S LIBRARY OF CONGIUBSS. S 

#|lrap Cq^wjfo $ 



! UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. J 




"Yes, Fanny, that is it. God so orders it, in his providence, that 
the good are generally happy, and the wicked unhappy." — See p. 58. 



THE 



GUIDING STAR; 

OR, 

THE BIBLE GOD'S MESSAGE. 

DESIGNED TO ILLUSTRATE 

THE SECOND AND THIRD QUESTIONS OF THE 
WESTMINSTER CATECHISM. 






BY 



LOUISA PAYSON HOPKINS, 

AUTHOR OF "THE PASTOR'S DAUGHTER," "HENRY LANGDON," ETC 




BOSTON: 
GOULD AND LINCOLN, 

59 WASHINGTON STREET. 

1851. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, 

BY GOULD & LINCOLN, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



Stereotyped by 

HOBART & BOBBINS, 

BOSTON. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



It may be necessary to explain the delay which 
has occurred in the publication of this series. The 
first number, entitled " Henry Langdon, or What 
was I made for ? " appeared five years since, and a 
large portion of the present work was then ready for 
publication. The prosecution of the design has been 
interrupted by ill health ; but the hope of being 
able to prepare other numbers of the series is not 
yet wholly abandoned. L. P. H. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The period of childhood is one of trust. Chil- 
dren must believe implicitly ; and it was evidently 
intended that they should receive instruction from 
their parents, in this way, on religious, no less 
than on other subjects. On this point the Bible 
is very explicit. Parents are made responsible 
for the correct belief of their children, just as they 
are for their good character ; and they may gen- 
erally control the one as effectually as the other. 

Christianity may be, and often is, thus received 
for a time, and may work its appropriate effects ; 
but to every thoughtful mind, the period of doubt, 
or, if not of doubt, of questioning, must come ; and 
happy is the child that is judiciously led from 
1* 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

this point to the firm ground of an intelligent 
belief. With very many this is a turning-point 
in their moral history, and practically, it would 
seem to be here, that the evidences of Christianity 
are most needed. 

The age at which doubts may arise will vary 
with the capacity and circumstances of the child. 
It would not probably be wise to induce an early 
habit of questioning, on subjects of practical mo- 
ment, because these can produce an effect on the 
heart only as they are fully received. It is " with 
the heart" that " man believeth to righteousness," 
and where this belief is strong enough to preclude 
ox repress the questionings of the intellect, we 
would not ordinarily suggest difficulties for the 
sake of removing them ; but when these arise, a 
full statement of them should be encouraged, and 
they should be candidly and fairly met, before any 
habit of distrust is formed. 

It is just here, that we believe there is a great 
work for parents and the church yet to do; and 



INTRODUCTION. VII 

here it is that a book is needed, containing a 
statement of the chief points of the Christian 
evidences in their simplest and most attractive 
form. Such a book would be a great blessing to 
many parents themselves. It would confirm 
their own faith, while enabling them to resolve, 
far better than they otherwise would, those 
doubts which even children will often entertain 
and suggest. It may not be possible — it is not— 
to bring the whole subject within the reach of 
very young persons ; but the best answers may 
be given to such objections as they will be likely 
to make, and an adequate ground may be early 
furnished for a positive and rational belief. 

But while there is evidently so much need of 
a work of this kind, the common treatises on the 
evidences do very little for its supply. They were 
written for another purpose, — are too elaborate 
and extended. 

The following work, intended to supply the 
want indicated above, was commenced some 



VIII INTRODUCTION. 

years since. It will be found to possess, in their 
full vigor, all those qualities which have given so 
wide a circulation to the previous works of the 
same writer. Ill health has prevented its com- 
pletion until now. It is from the continuance of 
this ill health that these prefatory lines are writ- 
ten by the hand of another, who is confident that 
it is from something more than the partiality of 
friendship, that he anticipates for this work an 
extended usefulness. M. H. 

Williams College, 
May 9, 1851. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY 7 

CHAPTER II. 

PROBABILITY OF A REVELATION. . . . .14 



CHAPTER III. 

WHAT SIGN COULD GOD GIVE TO AUTHENTICATE A MES- 
SAGE FROM HIMSELF? — EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL EVI- 
DENCES 24 



CHAPTER IV. 

PLAN OF THE BOOK. — DOES THE REVELATION MADE OF 
GOD IN THE BIBLE, HARMONIZE WITH THE REVELATION 
MADE IN NATURE? 33 



CHAPTER V. 

DOES THE SOUL OF MAN BEAR EVIDENT MARKS OF HAVING 
SPRUNG FROM THE GOD OF THE BIBLE? . . 47 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

DOES THE BIBLE HARMONIZE WITH THE REVELATION MADE 

OF GOD IN THE COURSE OF PROVIDENCE? . . 58 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE HARMONY BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE 
SACRED WRITINGS IS A STRONG EVIDENCE OF THEIR 
CREDIBILITY 69 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE BIBLE EEARS A STAMP OF DIGNITY AND MAJESTY, UN- 
LIKE WHAT IS FOUND IN ANY HUMAN PRODUCTION. 82 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE BIBLE IS ADAPTED TO MAN'S WANTS, INASMUCH AS 
IT FURNISHES HIM WITH KNOWLEDGE CLEARER THAN 
THAT DERIVED FROM NATURE 96 



CHAPTER X. 

THE SYSTEM OF DUTIES ENJOINED IN THE BIBLE IS FAR 
PURER THAN THAT TAUGHT BY ANY OTHER RELIGION, 
AND IS, IN FACT, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. . . 110 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE BIBLE FURNISHES THE KNOWLEDGE WHICH MAN 
NEEDS OF THE FUTURE, AND OF HIS OWN RELATIONS 
TO IT 121 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE BIBLE REVEALS TO MAN THE ONLY WAY IN WHICH 
HE MAY SECURE THE PARDON OF SIN. . .133 



CONTENTS. XI 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE GOSPEL FURNISHES THOSE AIDS WHICH MAN NEEDS 
TO RESTORE HIM TO THE LIKENESS OF GOD. . 145 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE EFFECTS OF THE GOSPEL ON THE HEARTS OF MEN 
PROVE IT TO BE FROM GOD 158 



CHAPTER XV. 

CHARACTER AND CONDUCT OF CHRIST. — TESTIMONY OF 
INFIDELS 170 



CHAPTER XVI. 

EVIDENCE FROM MIRACLES 184 

CHAPTER XVII. 

EVIDENCE FROM PROPHECY. — NATURE OF THE ARGUMENT. 
— OBJECTIONS ANSWERED • . 203 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

EVIDENCE FROM PROPHECY, CONTINUED. — PROPHECIES 
RELATING TO BABYLON AND TYRE. . . .217 

CHAPTER XIX. 

PROPHECIES RELATING TO CHRIST, *~ CONCLUSION. 239 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

"I wonder what we shall have to talk 
about, Sabbath evenings, this winter," said 
Fanny to her brother James, one Sabbath, 
just after tea. 

"I don't know. Perhaps mother will let 
us choose a subject, as we did last winter," 
said James. 

n Yes, I dare say she will. But I should 
not know what to choose." 

"I should. There is something I have 
been curious about, ever since I rode in the 
stage with father to W ■, last summer." 

"Is there, indeed?" said Fanny, rising 

from her half-recumbent position in the 

rocking-chair. " What is it ? How strange 

that you should never have said anything 

about it before ! " 

" That is because there never seemed to 
2 



8 THE GUIDING STAR. 

be a good time for it. You know we have 
been travelling all this fall, and there has 
been no opportunity for long talks." 

" Very true. But do tell me what it is, 
and what your riding in the stage had to do 
with it." 

"What I wish to know is, how to prove 
that the Bible is the word of God." 

" What a strange question ! Why, of 
course it is the word of God." 

"It may seem of course to you, but it 
does not to everybody." 

" How do you know ? " 

"Why, there was a man in the stage 
who said he did not believe a word of it, 
and that the writers of the Bible were a set 
of impostors." 

" Why, James ! how shocking ! I have 
heard about infidels, and I suppose he was 
one ? " 

" Yes, father said so afterwards. But now 
how would you go to work to convince such 
a man that the Bible is inspired ? " 

"I am sure I don't know," said Fanny, 



INTRODUCTORY. 9 

speaking slowly, and as if she were consid- 
ering. "Why, you know it says in the 
Bible that holy men of old spake as they 
were moved by the Holy Ghost. And there 
are other — " 

" Yes, but they won't answer. An infi- 
del would not mind what the Bible says 
about itself." 

" No, of course he would not ; that was a 
foolish argument. Well, then, there are the 
prophecies, — they have been fulfilled, you 
know ; mother always makes us notice 
that, when we read history." 

"But this man who talked in the stage 
would not allow that any prophecies had 
been fulfilled. In those cases where it ap- 
peared so, he said that the prophecies were 
written after the things happened." 

"Did he?" said Fanny, beginning to 
look puzzled and troubled. " But you don't 
believe what he said, do you ? " 

"No, of course not. But still I should 
not know how to argue with such a man." 

" Neither should I, I am sure. But how 



10 THE GUIDING STAR. 

strange it is that I never thought of that 
question before ! It is like my you re- 
member, when father asked me why a stone 
thrown up into the air came down again, I 
was astonished that he should ask the rea- 
son for what appeared to me so plain. But 
when he insisted on my telling why, I could 
not give any reason, except that things al- 
ways did so — which is no reason at all, 
you know." 

" Yes, and he told us, at the same time, 
how apt we are to suppose we understand a 
thing, if we have seen it happen a great 
many times, and are used to it." 

"Just as we are used to hearing the Bible 
spoken of as the word of God, and so take 
it for granted, without ever asking how it 
is known to be his word. I am very glad 
you thought of that question, James, though 
at first I did not suppose I should be inter- 
ested in it." 

"I am not afraid of not being interested 
enough. But there is one thing I am a little 
afraid of." 

"What is that?" 



INTRODUCTORY. 11 

"Why, I am afraid the proof cannot be 
made out so clear as I should want to have 
it, if I were arguing with an infidel. I 
should want to have it as clear as daylight ; 
and I am sure I do not see how it is to be 
made so: do you?" 

"No; I don't see anything about it now, 
especially as we cannot prove it from the 
Bible itself. But still, I do not feel afraid 
about it ; father and mother would not be- 
lieve it, unless it were true." 

"Here comes mother, at any rate," said 
James. "Now we can ask her." 

The request was soon made, and as soon 
granted. 

"But," said their mother, "on one con- 
dition. I shall exact very close attention ; 
for, without it, you will neither be inter- 
ested in our conversations, nor profited by 
them." 

This was readily promised ; and the next 
question was, when should they begin. 

" This evening — now — may we not, 
mother?" said Fanny. 
2* 



12 THE GUIDING STAR. 

"No, my dear, I think not, and for two 
reasons. You know I never wish to give 
you information on any subject, till you 
have exercised your own minds about it. 
And then I shall wish to have time to think 
of the subject myself, and arrange what I 
have to say to you in proper order." 

" But I don't know how to think about it, 
mother," said Fanny, mournfully; "I am 
sure I have not a thought in my head, and 
I don't believe James has." 

"Well, my dear, do not look so dolorous 
about it," replied her mother, smiling. "I 
will tell you what two points I wish you 
especially to reflect upon during this week. 
Thejirst is, whether it was probable, before- 
hand, that God, having created man, would 
make any revelation, or send any message 
to him. The second is, supposing him to 
make a revelation, what tokens or signs he 
could give, which would prove to men in 
all ages that it was from him." 

Fanny looked rather perplexed. "May 



INTRODUCTORY. 13 

we talk about it together, mother?" asked 

she. 

" Certainly, as much as you like." 

11 Come, then, James ; let us come into 

this corner of the room, and begin to think 



CHAPTER II. 

PROBABILITY OF A REVELATION. 

" Mother, we have thought of ever so 
many things to say, about those questions 
you gave us," said Fanny, the next Sab- 
bath evening. 

" Things to say! — questions to ask, I 
suppose you mean," interposed James, in 
his usual rather blunt manner. 

" Yes, questions; for we could not be sure 
that our thoughts were right." 

" Very well," said their mother, smiling; 
"I shall be glad to listen to remarks, or an- 
swer inquiries, as may be required. So, 
you found a good deal to think about, did 
you?" 

"Yes, mother, a great deal. We could 
not decide, at first, whether it was probable, 
beforehand, that God would make any rev- 



PROBABILITY OP A REVELATION. 15 

elation to man. James thought it was ; but 
it does not seem very clear to me." 

"And why did you think so, James?" 

11 Because, mother, I cannot see why God 
should have made men at all, if he meant 
to leave them to themselves, and not have 
anything to do with them afterwards. I 
should think, if he made them, he would 
wish to govern them, and give them laws ; 
and he could not do that without making a 
revelation." 

" Very true, James. The supposition that 
God, after creating men, would leave them 
to themselves, and take no further interest 
in them, appears, then, to be inconsistent 
with his tvisdom. And would it seem to be 
consistent with benevolence?" 

"But, mother," interrupted Fanny, "I 
beg your pardon, — but please to stop a mo- 
ment ; there is something which puzzles me. 
I — I—" 

"Well, my dear, go on." 

"I cannot tell very well what I mean, 
but it seems to me that you are taking it for 



16 THE GUIDING STAR. 

granted that God is wise and good; yet 
how should we know it, without the Bi- 
ble?" 

" I see what you mean, my dear. Yes, I 
am taking it for granted that God is wise 
and good, because we have evidence enough 
of both these perfections, in his works ; and 
every man who admits the existence of a 
God will admit it. The supposition that 
the vast universe was created by a foolish 
or a malevolent being is so perfectly absurd, 
that I believe no man can be found who 
entertains it." 

"O yes, mother, I see I was wrong; I 
know well enough that God's wisdom and 
goodness are evident from his works, but I 
had got puzzled about it." 

".I will now repeat my question. Would 
it be consistent with benevolence for God to 
leave men without a revelation ?" 

"I should think not," said James. 

" Why not?" 

"Why. if men cannot be happy without 
doing right, it must be necessary to their 



PROBABILITY OF A REVELATION. 17 

happiness to know what is right. And a 
benevolent being would give them whatever 
was necessary for their happiness." 

"But, then," said Fanny, "could they not 
have found out what was right, and what 
was wrong, for themselves ? I thought con- 
science was given for that." 

"So it is, my dear; but conscience, since 
man has fallen, is not an infallible guide. 
It needs to be enlightened by the word of 
God. There are some duties and some sins 
about which it leaves us very much in the 
dark; and even in regard to those duties 
which appear the plainest, as the reciprocal 
duties of parents and children, we find that 
men without the Bible have committed the 
greatest mistakes." 

"Yes," said Fanny, "I remember that in 
heathen countries the parents very often kill 
their children as soon as they are born." 

"And children kill their parents, when 
they are old and cannot work," said James, 
"by stuffing earth into their mouths, or by 
burying them alive." 



18 THE GUIDING STAR. 

"Yes/" observed his mother, "and we 
might easily spend the whole evening in 
mentioning facts which prove that a revela- 
tion was needed, to enable men to distin- 
guish right from wrong. But this would be 
anticipating a point we shall come to again, 
by and by. Let us go on now to something 
else. Could anything have been known, 
with certainty, of the immortality of the 
soul, and & future state of rewards and pun- 
ishments, without the Bible?" 

Fanny looked doubtful. James answered, 
after a little hesitation, that he believed 
Plato and Cicero thought the soul was im- 
mortal. 

"So they did," said his mother; "or rath- 
er, so they wished to do. But their hopes 
and wishes were far from attaining to cer- 
tainty, and these men were but two out of 
millions. The common people knew noth- 
ing of such a doctrine, and never could have 
known it, without the Bible. Much less did 
they know anything of a heaven or a hell, 



PROBABILITY OP A REVELATION. 19 

at all resembling the heaven or hell of the 
Bade." 

"And there is still another thing," said 
James, "which we could not have known 
without the Bible ; we could not have 
known that there is a God." 

"O James! I am sure we could. You 
forget what mother was saying about it 
this very evening, and how father is always 
talking to us about seeing God in his 
works." 

" Yes, to be sure, now we know from the 
Bible that there is a God, it is very easy to 
find proofs of it in his works ; but the ques- 
tion is, how much those poor, miserable 
heathen, who kill their children as soon as 
they are born — how much would they 
know about God, if they were left to them- 
selves? What do you think, mother?" 

"I think the question resolves itself into 
one oi facts ; — how much do those heathen 
know about him ? What is known is the 
proper test of what may be known. It is 
vain to study the faculties of the mind, and 
3 



20 THE GUIDING STAR. 

decide from them what man might discover 
of God; the question is, what has man, 
when left to himself, actually discovered? 
And if it is found that his conceptions have 
always been low, false and degraded, then 
it is evident that a clearer revelation was 
needed than that made in nature." 

" But, I suppose the reason men have had 
such low conceptions of God, is because 
they are wicked," said James. "If man had 
remained innocent, he might, perhaps, have 
gained a true idea of God from studying 
nature. Don't you think so, mother 1 " 

" All that can be learned from nature, he 
might have learned, certainly." 

"Then, if men had not sinned, they would 
not have needed a revelation, would they?" 
asked Fanny. 

"That does not follow with certainty. 
They certainly would not have needed one 
so much as they now do, nor for precisely 
the same reasons. But it is difficult to sup- 
pose that man, a finite and dependent crea- 
ture, could ever have been happy without 



PROBABILITY OF A REVELATION. 21 

some intercourse with his Maker. There is 
reason to conclude, even from the brief nar- 
rative we have in the Bible, that God did 
maintain a frequent and familiar intercourse 
with Adam before he sinned." 

u And it seems to me very natural that he 
should," said James. 

"But," continued his mother, "the most 
important reason why a revelation was 
needed has not been mentioned yet. There 
is one kind of knowledge necessary to fall- 
en man which he could not have gained 
at all from the works of nature. Do you 
know what I mean ? " 

"I suppose you mean the knowledge of 
Jesus Christ," said James. 

" Certainly ; and without this, all other 
knowledge would be useless."' 

"But, according to that, mother," said 
Fanny, "all the people who lived before 
Christ, even the good people among the 
Jews, must have perished." 

"Not so, my dear; for the Bible con- 
tained predictions of Christ, before he came. 



22 THE GUIDING STAR. 

You know Christ himself says, ' Abraham 
rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and 
was glad. 5 ; ' 

" But still, mother, the predictions of 
Christ were so obscure — " 

" Yes, they were obscure; but they were, 
no doubt, interpreted to believing hearts by 
the Spirit of God. Besides, it was not nec- 
essary that men should understand all about 
Christ, in order to be saved through him. 
It was enough that they knew, in general, 
that he was to make propitiation for sin." 

"Mother, do you suppose that if one of 
the heathen should do the very best he could, 
according to what his conscience told him, 
he would be lost for not having heard of 
Christ?" 

"I think the case of Cornelius is instruct- 
ive on that point. He was a just man, and 
did his duty, so far as he knew it; and Peter 
was therefore sent to give him the instruc- 
tion he needed about Christ. And Peter 
expressly declares that he had learned from 
this instance that, 'in whatsoever nation, he 



PROBABILITY OF A REVELATION. 23 

that feareth God and doeth righteousness is 
accepted of him. 5 " 

"At any rate," said James, "we have 
found reasons enough why a revelation was 
needed." 

" And if it was needed, then it was proba- 
ble" observed his mother. 

" Yes," said Fanny, " it seems very plain 
to me now." 

" The other question is still left," said her 
mother, "and we will reserve it for next 
Sabbath evening." 
3* 



CHAPTER III. 

WHAT SIGN COULD GOD GIVE TO AUTHENTICATE A MESSAGE 
FROM HIMSELF ? — EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 

" Mother," said Fanny, at their next 
meeting, " I do not see why any one should 
wish to deny that the Bible came from God." 

" I do, plain enough," said James. " I am 
sure I have hardly been able to keep from 
wishing so myself, sometimes." 

"Why, James! What do you mean?" 

"Why, when Mr. A. preaches such ser- 
mons as he did this morning, for instance, 
and makes it so plain that nobody can go to 
heaven who does not repent, and when I 
feel that I cannot repent, then I begin to 
think, c What if the Bible should not be true, 
after all V and if it were not wicked, I should 
wish that it were not." 

"O, James!" said Fanny; and after this 
she was silent. His mother was silent too, 



EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 25 

pained, though not surprised, at this evidence 
of the state of her son's heart, and lifting 
up her soul in prayer to God that He would 
renew and sanctify him. After a time she 
said, " James has expressed the feelings of 
every unrenewed heart, when it is made to 
feel that the law of God breathes nothing but 
condemnation and wrath against the sinner. 
And you can see, in this way, how men 
become infidels. They begin by ivishing 
the Bible were not true ; and then they try 
to find arguments to prove that it is not so. 
You can easily see that if a wicked man 
were to make a Bible for himself, it would 
be a very different one from the Scriptures." 

"I suppose," said Fanny, " it would let 
him do just what he liked." 

" Yes, that has always been the character 
of pretended revelations. And if they have 
forbidden some indulgences, they have al- 
lowed othets, to make up for it; as Ma- 
homet did." 

"Then, after all, mother," said Fanny, 
"it seems to me that this very thing is a 



26 THE GUIDING 8TAR. 

proof that the Bible is from God. For if it 
had been invented by men, they would have 
made such a one as they liked." 

"Very true, my dear; I am glad you 
have made that reflection. And now, what 
have you to say about the question I gave 
you ? " 

"Why, mother, we could not think of 
anything ; or, at least, we thought of a great 
many things, but they would not any of 
them doP 

" Explain yourself more clearly, my 
dear." 

"I mean we could not think of anything 
that God could give to men which would 
prove to them that the Bible was his word. 
Because, whatever he gave them, the men 
that lived afterwards, you know, might have 
denied that he did give it." 

" Yes, unless it was something which God 
alone could give. But put out of your head 
the notion of a thing, in the first place, and 
consider what power God could have given 
to the writers of the Bible, which no other 



EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 27 

men had, and which, therefore, would prove 
that their message was from him." 

" What power ? O, now I see ! you mean 
the power of working miracles." 

" Yes, that was a credential or token from 
God, — just as if your father, being absent, 
and wishing to send a message to me by a 
stranger, should give him a ring, or minia- 
ture, to show to me, which I knew to be in 
your father's possession." 

" Yes, that would be an excellent plan," 
said Fanny. 

"And, so far as we can see," added her 
mother, "it is the only credential God could 
have given, that would have been suffi- 
cient." 

"The miracles might be a token to the 
people who saw them," said James; "but 
how could they be to the rest of the world, 
who have lived since ?" 

"Why," said Fanny, "those who saw 
them might write accounts of them, as they 
have done." 

" Yes, but seeing a miracle is one thing, 



28 THE GUIDING STAR. 

and reading an account of it is another. 
For my part, I should not believe any ac- 
count of a miracle that should be published 
in these days; I should .want to see it with 
my own eyes. And you know what papa 

said, when Mr. B told him about the 

boy who was magnetized, and who did 
such wonderful things ; — he said he should 
want the testimony of his own senses, before 
he could believe there was not some trick or 
mistake about it." 

"It is very true," said his mother, "that 
more evidence is required to convince us of 
things in themselves improbable, or con- 
trary to the common course of nature, than 
of those which are in accordance with our 
own experience. But there is an amount 
of evidence which would convince us that 
any event, however improbable in itself, 
really happened ; and convince us as fully 
as the evidence of our senses would have 
done. Besides, the probability of a revela- 
tion being admitted, miracles are not im- 
probable ; since they furnish the only token 



EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 29 

God could have given of the credibility of a 
revelation. And we shall soon see that 
there is a wide difference between the mir- 
acles of the Bible and the wonders of mes- 
merism, both as to their strangeness, and as 
to the amount of testimony in their favor." 

"But there is another difficulty, still, 
mother. Other people, besides good men, 
have worked miracles sometimes. You 
know the magicians of Egypt did so." 

"No; it is generally thought by learned 
men that there is nothing in the language 
of the Bible to authorize the belief that they 
really performed any miracles. They were 
a class of men whose business it was to 
counterfeit such wonders, by legerdemain, 
or sleight-of-hand ; and to a certain point 
they could imitate in this way the wonders 
performed by Moses." 

"O mother," said Fanny, "like that jug- 
gler we saw last winter, Signor — what's 
his name? — I am sure the things he did 
appeared like miracles. I could hardly be- 



30 THE GUIDING STAR. 

lieve the evidence of my own senses. Don't 
you remember, James, how he — " 

" Yes, I remember all about it. But, then, 
after all, it does not make any difference 
whether men can really perform miracles 
without help from God, or whether - they 
only appear to ; for, if people cannot distin- 
guish between true and false miracles, they 
cannot know which are a sign or token from 
God, and which are not." 

"All these objections anticipate what we 
are coming to by and by," said his mother. 
"In fact, I ought not to have given you that 
second question to think about, as it has led 
us out of the track I wish to follow. The 
train of thought suggested by our starting- 
point would lead us to consider the internal 
evidences first." 

"Internal evidences? What are they, 
mother?" asked Fanny. 

" To go back to the illustration we used 
before," said her mother; "is there any 
other way in which I might know that a 
letter came from your father, besides its be- 



EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 31 

ing accompanied by a ring, or some other 
outward token?" 

"Why, yes, mother; you would know 
whether it was in his hand-writing or 
not." 

"Yes, and whether it was his style or 
not," said James, — " whether it sounded 
like his other letters, and whether he wrote 
about our affairs as if he understood them." 

" And if the letter revealed any traits of 
character," added his mother, "I might 
compare them with what I knew of your 
father's character. Well, now suppose that 
the hand- writing and style of the letter were 
your father's, exactly; that there was a per- 
fect agreement in the sentiments and opin- 
ions and feelings, therein expressed, with 
those of your father ; that it showed an inti- 
mate knowledge of all our concerns, and 
that it was moreover accompanied by a ring 
which I knew to be in your father's posses- 
sion, — would not all these evidences togeth- 
er remove every doubt from my mind, and 
4 



32 THE GUIDING STAR. 

convince me that the letter was what it pur- 
ported to be?" 

" Certainly, you could not doubt after 
that/' said James. 

" These are the kinds of evidence we 
have that the Bible is from God; and all 
of them together, excepting the ring, consti- 
tute what are called the internal evidences. 
We have seen that a revelation was proba- 
ble. We next advance a step further, and 
say, ' Here is a book which professes to be 
such a revelation.' Let us examine it, and 
see whether it bears those marks, internally, 
which we might expect in a revelation from 
God. And, as a preparation for the next 
conversation, you may try to find out what 
some of those marks are." 

" How much there will be to talk about ! " 
exclaimed Fanny. 

" Yes," said James; "all I am afraid of 
is, that there will not be time to talk about 
them all." 



CHAPTER IV. 

PLAN OF THE BOOK. DOES THE REVELATION MADE OP GOD 
IN THE BIBLE HARMONIZE WITH THE REVELATION MADE 
IN NATURE? 

"What a hard subject you gave us, 
mother !" said Fanny, as soon as they were 
seated, the next Sabbath evening. "There 
was so much to think of that I did not 
know where to begin, and never should 
have come to anything, if James had not 
helped me." 

" How did he help you ? " 

"Why, he said that the Bible was just 
the same as a letter from God to us ; that 
is, it professes to be ; and we can try it in 
the same way in which you said you could 
try a letter from father. But then, after all, 
most of the things you named about the let- 
ter would not apply at all here — hand- 
writing and style, for instance." 



34 THE GUIDING STAR. 

" Hand- writing, certainly not ; but why 
not style ? We might surely expect, in the 
style and composition of a message from 
God, some marks of sublimity not found in 
human productions. " 

"Yes, to be sure, mother; so we might. 
But then again, as to the opinions and feel- 
ings and character, you know we could 
not tell — " 

"Why, Fanny!" interrupted James, "you 
forget all that we said the other evening 
about the character of God being shown in 
his works. I am sure we can compare the 
Bible with nature, and see whether they 
both teach the same things." 

"Yes," observed his mother, "that is the 
first particular named in the plan I have 
here ; " unfolding a sheet of paper, as she 
spoke. 

"What, mother, have you a written plan 
for our conversations ? n asked Fanny. 

"Yes, my dear, but you need not look so 
alarmed about it ; there is nothing difficult 



HARMONY WITH NATURE. 35 

in it; or, at least, there is no difficulty which 
a little explanation will not easily remove.' ' 

"I am sure I am very glad there is a 
plan," said James ; "I always like to go on 
in order." 

" Yes, that is so like you!" said Fanny. 
" For my part, I like to ramble on, just as it 
happens. But, mother, will you please to 
read us your plan ? " 

"You will see that it embraces all the 
particulars you have named, and many oth- 
ers. You know we began by asking wheth- 
er a revelation from God to man was proba- 
ble, and decided that it was so. The next 
question is, What marks or tokens might be 
expected in a revelation from God ? And, 

I. We might expect that it would har- 
monize with those revelations of himself 
which God has already made; 1, In nature; 
2, In man ; 3, With those which he is con- 
stantly making in his Providence. 

II. We might expect that all its parts 
would harmonize with each other. 

III. We might expect that it would be 

4# 



36 THE GUIDING STAR. 

characterized by a sublimity and majesty 
not found in human compositions. 

IV. We might expect that such a reve- 
lation would be specifically and exactly 
adapted to the wants of the beings to whom 
it is sent ; that is, to the wants of men. 
These wants are — 

1. Clearer knowledge — of himself — of 
God — and of duty. 

2. Pardon — atonement. 

3. Motives and aids to right-doing — re- 
generation. 

If all these marks should be found in a 
book professing to be a revelation from God, 
we should have proof amounting to a moral 
demonstration that it was what it professed 
to be." 

"This, then, includes the whole of the 
proof, — the whole of what we are to talk 
about, — does it ? " asked Fanny. 

"No, my dear; this includes only the 
internal evidences : there is another class 
of evidences, which I shall take up after- 
wards. But, according to this plan, we are 



HABMONY WITH NATURE. 37 

to consider, this evening, whether the reve- 
lation respecting God, in the Bible, harmon- 
izes with the revelation made of him in the 
works of nature. And first, as to the unity 
of God. The Bible, you know, teaches us 
that there is but one God, while the differ- 
ent systems of heathenism have a great 
many. Now, which should we conclude to 
be true, from nature?" 

After a pause of some length, James said 
he did not know. "I do not see, mother, 
how nature can teach anything about it. 
We know that the world must have been 
made; but why might it not have been 
made by a great many beings, as well as by 
one?" 

" Suppose you should be shown a vast 
and complicated piece of machinery, all the 
parts of which were nicely adapted and 
adjusted to each other, so that in all the 
intricate movements, and play of the parts, 
there was no confusion or jarring, but the 
whole worked harmoniously together to a 



38 THE GUIDING STAR. 

single end. Should you suppose it to be 
contrived by one mind, or by many ? " 

"By one, mother, certainly. 7 ' 

"In the same way we infer the unity of 
God from the works of creation. There is 
a correspondency, a harmony, between the 
parts, which proves that they were all the 
work of the same intelligence. The same 
mind which formed the eye also created 
light; the same being who created the at- 
mosphere gave man lungs to breathe it, and 
blood to be purified by it." 

"O yes! it seems very plain that the same 
being made everything, else they would not 
fit together so. But, then, as to the perfec- 
tions of God, it does not seem to me — I mean, 
James was saying — and it seems so to me, 
too, that it is no proof of the Bible being from 
God, that it gives such a representation of 
him. Because, if people had invented the 
Bible, they would, of course, have made the 
character of God perfect." 

" I beg your pardon, my dear. It is not 
so easy as you seem to think to invent a 



HARMONY WITH NATURE. 39 

perfect and infinite Being. It is very diffi- 
cult for a depraved heart to conceive of infi- 
nite excellence, even when it is revealed ; 
and quite impossible for it to imagine and 
represent such a being as the infinite Jeho- 
vah, without a revelation. If you would be 
convinced of this, you have only to look at 
the deities of pagan nations." 

" Yes, I remember I have read about Ju- 
piter ; — he was a miserable kind of god 
enough." 

" Yet the Greeks were the most refined, 
polished, and learned nation of antiquity; 
and Jupiter was about the best of their gods. 
It has been said of the pagan deities, ' Some 
were vindictive and sanguinary, others were 
jealous, wrathful, or deceivers ; and all of 
them were unchaste and adulterous. Not a 
few of them were monsters of the grossest 
vice and wickedness ; and their rites were 
absurd, licentious and cruel, and often con- 
sisted of mere unmixed crime.' Another 
writer says, ' Their deities were worse than 
ordinary wicked men — full of ambition, 



40 THE GUIDING STAR. 

malice, cruelty, lust, deceit.' One was the 
god of thieves, another of war, a third of 
wine. Their histories are histories of crime 
and chicane, of pride and contention. Their 
supreme Jupiter is never introduced, but in 
the form of human folly, with human vices, 
and engaged in criminal human pursuits." 

"But, mother, do you suppose people 
could really have approved and admired 
such things ? " said James. 

" No ; that was probably out of the ques- 
tion. The philosophers ridiculed these gods; 
but the common people believed in them, 
and if they did not reverence them, had 
nothing to reverence. At any rate, we see 
what gods men invent for themselves, when 
they are left to their own folly." 

"And yet, the Greeks and Romans were 
the most civilized people in the world ! " said 
James. 

"Yes, and as they went on advancing in 
civilization and refinement, they made no 
improvement whatever in the character of 
their deities. But now let us turn from 



HARMONY WITH NATURE. 41 

these gods of the heathen, to contemplate 
the God of revelation. What a contrast 
between Jehovah and these contemptible, 
cruel and revengefjil deities! What majesty 
and dignity, in contrast with their littleness! 
What purity, in contrast with their defile- 
ment ! What perfect truth, in contrast with 
their lying and fraud ! What undeviating 
justice, in contrast with their caprice and 
cruelty ! What mercy and forgiveness, in 
contrast with their malice and revenge ! 
And how perfectly absurd is the supposition, 
that in the midst of such conceptions of the 
Deity as universally prevailed among the 
nations of antiquity, one man should have 
risen up like Moses, and promulgated such 
a view of the character of Jehovah as he 
has done, by the aid of his own faculties 
alone ! " 

" Yes, mother, I see that it is absurd, 5 ' said 
Fanny. "I never thought of it before in 
that way." 

"But let us examine more particularly 
how far the revelation of God, in the Bible, 



42 THE GUIDING STAE. 

harmonizes with what we learn from na- 
ture. In the first place, the Bible teaches 
us that God is infinite in power ; and what 
does nature say about it?" 

" Why, of course, he must have been infi- 
nitely powerful, to create all things, and up- 
hold all things." 

"The Bible says that God is infinite in 
wisdom ; and what does nature say ? " 

"If he had not been infinite in wisdom, 
he could not have contrived everything so 
beautifully and perfectly. O, I remember, 
father told us a great many things in which 
God's wisdom is displayed; and explained 
to us about our own bodies, and about dif- 
ferent animals and insects, how wisely they 
are made. I was very much interested, and 
I wish he would teach us more about it." 

"The Bible says that God is infinitely 
benevolent; how does this appear from his 
works?" 

"O, father told us about that, too; he 
showed us how every part of our bodies 
was designed to produce pleasure, and not 



HARMONY WITH NATURE. 43 

pain. He told us how much pleasure we 
receive every day from the air and the light, 
from the use of our limbs and faculties, from 
the beautiful sky, and earth, and stars, and 
from loving each other; and he said that 
God might have made us so that we should 
not have enjoyed anything." 

"But as to those two first things you 
named, mother, power and wisdom, I sup- 
pose," said James, "that even the heathen 
had right notions about them ; that is, they 
believed their gods to be powerful and wise, 
did they not?" 

" Yes, but their notions were very defect- 
ive, even in relation to these attributes. If 
there are many gods, who divide the sover- 
eignty of the universe between them, it is 
impossible that there should be one all-pow- 
erful God. Their notion of power was that 
of mere force, kept in check by other forces, 
and subject, even in the case of Jupiter him- 
self, to the control of Fate. Such an attri- 
bute had nothing in common with the om- 
nipotence of the God of the Bible, — power 
5 



44 THE GUIDING STAR. 

unlimited, and governed by benevolence. 
The same remarks apply to knowledge and 
wisdom. The deities of the heathen possess 
a very limited knowledge; they may be, 
and often are, deceived; and their wisdom 
might more properly be called cunning. In 
fact, the absence of one attribute, benevo- 
lence, modifies and alters all the others, such 
as power and knowledge, which have no 
moral character, — that is, are neither good 
nor bad in themselves." 

"But, mother," said James, "you say that 
we can discover all these things from nature, 
and that the agreement between what we 
learn of God from nature, and what we 
learn of him from the Bible, is a proof of 
the truth of the Bible. And yet, you say 
that the heathen did not learn these things 
from nature, and that their notions of God 
were entirely wrong and foolish." 

" Very true, James. But, then, it does 
not follow that man, fallen man, will do 
what he might do. The perfections of God 
are so clearly written on his works, that the 



HARMONY WITH NATURE. 45 

heathen might have known him from them, 
as Paul says: 'For the invisible things of 
him, namely, his eternal power and god- 
head, were clearly seen, from the creation 
of the world ; ' that is, they were clearly to 
be seen. . But men were blinded by their 
wickedness, and did not choose to see them. 
Besides, it is much easier, now that these 
perfections are revealed, to discover confirm- 
ations of them from nature, than to guess 
them out, at first, entirely from nature." 
" Yes, so it is ; I thought of that before." 
" And now I will conclude the conversa- 
tion, by reading a few sentences written by 
the great and good Dr. Dwight. Sometime 
I hope you will read all his works for your- 
selves. Speaking of Jehovah, he says, — 
- What an amazing character is here mani- 
fested to our view ! Jehovah, the self-exist- 
ent, eternal, immutable, omnipresent, omni- 
scient, almighty, and independent ; the only 
good, just, faithful, true, merciful and wise ; 
the maker, the preserver, the benefactor and 
the ruler of all things ; to whom be glory 



46 THE GUIDING STAR. 

for ever and ever ! What a character, 
what a being, is this ! How do all crea- 
tures, in his presence, and in comparison 
with his greatness and perfection, shrink 
into nothing, and become justly counted by 
him as less than nothing, and vanity ! 
How truly, how suitably to his character, 
does he say, / am, and there is none else ! ? 
" There are other perfections of God 
taught in the Bible, which we do not dis- 
cover from nature, strictly speaking, but 
which are revealed in God's providential 
government of the world. However, the 
subject of our next conversation will be, the 
harmony between God's revelation of him- 
self in the soul of man, and in the Bible." 



CHAPTER V. 

DOES THE SOUL OF MAN BEAR EVIDENT MARKS OF HAVING 
SPRUNG FROM THE GOD OF THE BIBLE ? 

"Mother," said Fanny, "I think our con- 
versations have done me good in one way, 
already." 

"How is that, Fanny?" 

"'Why, they make me read the Bible so 
much more attentively. All the last week I 
was thinking of what we were to talk about 
to-night; and it made me notice a great many 
things in the Bible which I had read before 
without minding them." 

"That is one good result, certainly," said 
her mother. " But I hope, my dear Fanny, 
that other and more important results will 
follow, from our conversations; if I did not, I 
should consider the time unprofitably spent. 
For you know that an increase of knowl- 
edge alone will be of no advantage to you, 
5* 



48 THE GUIDING STAR. 

unless that knowledge influences your con- 
duct. I hope you may be led to love and 
obey the Bible, as well as to understand its 
claims. The question, whether the Bible is 
the word of God, is not a mere question of 
curiosity; it is one of the highest practical 
importance to all of us. If it is the word 
of God, we are sinners : we are condemned 
already : the sentence of the law has been 
uttered ; there is but one way of escape. If 
it is the word of God, our eternal destiny 
depends on the manner in which we treat 
it. Every time that its claims are presented 
and you refuse to yield to them, you incur 
additional guilt, and increase the hardness 
of your heart. These conversations, there- 
fore, will not leave you as they found you ; 
they must either benefit or injure you." 

Fanny and James looked and felt very 
serious. After a pause, their mother re- 
sumed : 

"Have you anything to say respecting 
our subject of conversation for this even- 
ing?" 



THE SOUL FROM GOD. 



49 



"Why, mother/' said Fanny, u vre could 
not understand very well what you meant." 

"I thought," said James, "that if you 
meant to ask how God's perfections are 
shown in the creation of man, you would 
have put that with our last subject ; for man 
is a part of nature." 

"Yes, man is a part of nature, in one 
sense, it is true. At the same time, there 
is a broad distinction between man and 
the other works of God ; and the nature of 
the proof I wish to draw from this Source 
is quite different from that we considered 
last week. I can put the question in a sim- 
ple form, so that you will understand it. 
How does it appear that the same being 
who created the human soul is the author 
of the Bible?" 

"Is this the right answer?" said James, 
after thinking a while — "that our con- 
sciences approve and disapprove the same 
things which the Bible approves and disap- 
proves?" 

" Yes, that is part of the answer, and it 



50 THE GUIDING STAR. 

seems to me a very strong evidence. Sup- 
pose, for a moment, that we could lay aside 
all knowledge of God acquired from the 
Bible or from nature ; and that we should 
then examine the soul of man, to discover 
something of its author. It seems to me that 
man's intellectual and moral faculties both 
point to such a God as the Bible reveals." 

"I partly understand you, mother," said 
James; "but please to explain what you 
mean more fully." 

" Take, then, man's intellectual faculties, 
— those by the aid of which he knows, 
thinks, imagines, reasons. How evident it 
is that they were made to be employed about 
an infinite object ! How eagerly they travel 
on, climbing from height to height, and are 
never satisfied till they have found something 
without limits ! How evident it is that 
these powers could never attain rest or en- 
joyment in the worship of degraded, finite, 
and imperfect deities ; or in the enjoyments 
of a sensual paradise ! How certain does it 
appear that they can find their end and aim 



THE SOUL FROM GOD. 51 

only in the perfect, eternal, and infinite 
Jehovah ! " 

11 Yes, I see that it is so," said James. 

" Then, if we consider man as a creature 
of the affections, capable of loving, we are 
led to the same result. As his mind requires 
an infinite object to know, so his heart re- 
quires an infinite object to love. It is certain 
that the soul can never be satisfied, so long 
as its affections are fastened on perishable, 
imperfect and limited objects. It is equally 
certain that the highest bliss which we can 
know or conceive of must flow from an 
interchange of affection with a being abso- 
lutely and supremely worthy of love in 
himself, and possessing also claims to our 
warmest gratitude. Now, the God revealed 
in the Bible is such a Being, — how perfectly 
unlike the gods whom heathen nations pre- 
tended to worship, but whom they could not 
even pretend to love, I need not again remind 
you." 

" Sure enough, — nobody could have 
thought of loving their gods !" said Fanny. 



52 THE GUIDING STAR. 

"Then, once more, as to the conscience. 
Conscience utters the same language with 
the Bible. Wherever she is allowed to speak 
her natural, unperverted decisions, they har- 
monize perfectly with the precepts of the 
moral law. And, however men may seek 
to blind or to silence her, they feel her scor- 
pion whips in the dead of night, if they ven- 
ture to transgress the words of Jehovah. 5 ' 

"But, then, mother, you know that is not 
always so; because people, and sometimes 
whole nations, succeed in persuading them- 
selves that things are right which the Bible 
forbids, and then their consciences do not 
reprove them." 

" That is true ; but still it is not difficult 
to distinguish the judgments of natural, un- 
perverted conscience, from those false deci- 
sions she sometimes pronounces. A man 
who, in the possession of his reason, visits 
an insane asylum, does not doubt his own 
sanity, because all around him see things 
differently from himself. We know, that in 
relation to all important and fundamental 



THE SOUL FROM GOD. 53 

duties, the consciences of men speak alike ; 
and even where certain crimes are univer- 
sal, as among some heathen nations, there 
is no reason to suppose that their consciences 
approve those crimes. But how is it, you 
may ask, that conscience is capable of being 
perverted? If God has placed her in the 
soul as an arbiter of right and wrong, wh}^ 
are her decisions ever erroneous ? And this 
question we could not answer, if the Bible 
had not given us an account of the fall of 
man from his original state of innocence. 
So that here an apparent objection becomes 
an argument in favor of the Bible. There 
is in man a mixture of good and evil, of 
great and little, which can be accounted for 
in no other icay than by receiving the Bibli- 
cal account of his creation and fall. He 
still retains enough of his original brightness 
to show what he was, as he came from 
the hands of the Creator ; while this bright- 
ness is so dimmed and sullied by sin, that 
to an observer without the guiding light of 
inspiration he must appear an inexplicable 



54 THE GUIDING STAR. 

riddle. Justly has he been compared to a 
temple in ruins. He admires and approves 
the good, yet follows the evil. His soul 
seems to be torn by an intestine war — pas- 
sion and conscience each striving for the 
mastery, which neither fully obtains. Well 
may he be lost in perplexity at himself, until 
he opens the volume of inspiration; and well 
may the wonderful light which beams upon 
him from its pages convince him that it is 
the work of one who ' needeth not that any 
should testify of man, for he knoweth what 
is in man.' " 

" Yes," said James, thoughtfully, " it 
seems to me that this is a very convincing 
argument." 

"And it is one," added his mother, " which 
can be understood and felt by every man 
who has ever looked into himself enough to 
know his own character. It does not require 
any learning or talent, to be appreciated. 
Accordingly, it is found that no argument is 
more convincing to men who are convinced 
of sin, while in a state of scepticism about 



THE SOUL FROM GOD. 55 

revelation, than this. Most men are so 
ignorant of themselves that they do not feel 
the force of this argument ; but let the Spirit 
of God enter a man's heart, and convince 
him of his sinful and ruined state, and then 
he feels the truth of the Bible. Every line 
seems to flash evidence upon him ; the se- 
crets of his heart are made manifest, and he 
is in the same state of mind with the woman 
of Sychar, when she exclaimed, ' Come see 
a man which told me all things that ever I 
did ; — is not this the Christ ?- " 

"I remember," said Fanny, "I have read 
anecdotes about wicked men, who went by 
accident to a meeting, and who thought the 
minister had heard about them, and that his 
text and sermon were made on purpose for 
them." 

"Such instances are not very uncom- 
mon," said her mother. " There is still 
another fact which shows that the same 
Being who created the soul of man origin- 
ated the Bible. It is this : the Bible solves 
for men a problem which they are unable to 
6 



56 THE GUIDING STAR. 

solve for themselves ; it tells them just what 
will make them happy." 

Fanny looked as if she did not quite see 
the force of this remark. 

" Suppose," said her mother, "a box had 
been given you, which had a lock of very 
curious construction, but no key. Suppose 
that hundreds of people should come, one 
after the other, with keys which they pre- 
tended would open it, but every one failed. 
At last there comes a man with a key which 
opens the wonderful lock, as if by magic, at 
the first touch. Would you not feel quite 
certain that he was the contriver of the 
lock?" 

"Yes, mother, I think I should." 

"Well, now, men in all ages have been 
seeking happiness. One says, try this method 
of obtaining it, and another says, try that ; 
but all confess that they have not found it. 
The Bible alone contains the secret, and just 
the secret, which men would never have 
found for themselves. It says, c Do right; 
deny your appetites and passions ; renounce 



THE SOUL FROM GOD. 57 

your own will, and submit to the will of 
God; become as little children;' and every 
man who has followed these directions con- 
fesses that he has found the secret of happi- 
ness. But we must bring our conversation 
to a close. Our next subject is, The har- 
mony between the Bible and the course of 
Providence." 

u That sounds difficult," said Fanny ; " I 
do not believe I shall understand it." 

" Yes, you will, my dear. The course of 
Providence means the order of events which 
takes place in the world, and in life. You 
can see that it would be possible, by observ- 
ing the conduct of a ruler, to determine by 
what principles he was governed. Now, 
God, as a wise Ruler, must be regulated 
by certain fixed principles, in the govern- 
ment of the universe. Our business, then, 
will be, to determine, from his acts, what 
these principles are, and then compare them 
with what the Bible teaches on the same 
subject. Do you understand me?" 

" Yes, mother, very well." 



CHAPTER VI. 

DOES THE BIBLE HARMONIZE WITH THE REVELATION MADE 
OF GOD IN THE COURSE OF PROVIDENCE ? 

" Mother," said Fanny, "I believe I have 
found out one thing you mean, — one prin- 
ciple according to which God governs the 
universe ; and I am very glad that I found 
it out without James helping me. Is n't it 
that one you spoke of some time ago — that 
he punishes the wicked and rewards the 
good ? " 

"Yes, Fanny, that is it. God so orders 
it, in his providence, that the good are gen- 
erally happy, and the wicked unhappy." 

" But, then, mother, it is not always so. 
I know some wicked men who seem to have 
all they want ; and good men are often poor 
and distressed." 

"That is true; but you will see, by and 



HARMONY WITH PROVIDENCE. 59 

by, that these apparent exceptions only 
confirm the rule. At present, let us con- 
sider the principle, and see of how wide 
application it is. Observe how surely sloth, 
and intemperance, and extravagance, and 
dissipation, are punished, by poverty, and 
sickness, and contempt. As a general 
thing, a man that is honest in his dealings, 
just and kind to his neighbors, a good fath- 
er, a good husband, and a good citizen, is 
prosperous in his business, beloved by his 
family, respected by society, and approved 
by his conscience. As a general thing, a 
man who is dishonest in trade, unjust to his 
dependents, or unkind to his family, is sus- 
pected, disliked, and avoided by all men ; 
while his ill-gotten gains 'take to themselves 
wings, and fly away.' You are both young, 
and have seen so little of the world, that you 
cannot have observed these facts for your- 
selves; therefore, you must be content to 
take them on the testimony of others. But 
you can tell whether this principle is in ac- 
cordance with what the Bible teaches us 
6* 



60 THE GUIDING STAR. 

of God's feelings and conduct towards the 
righteous and wicked." 

" Yes, I am sure it is," said Fanny ; " the 
Bible is full of texts about God's loving and 
rewarding good men, and about his punish- 
ing wicked men. I believe I could find a 
thousand." 

"I know it," said James, "and I think 
what mother has said is true in general, as 
she stated it ; but I do not see how she is 
going to get over the difficulty, — the ex- 
ception I spoke of." 

"I will tell you, my dear," said his moth- 
er. "If this world were a state of reward, 
then it would be necessary that God should 
in all cases make the righteous happy, and 
the wicked miserable. But, on the supposi- 
tion that this life is a state of trial, of disci- 
pline, we should not expect any such uni- 
formity of treatment. For, consider what 
is implied in a state of probation and disci- 
pline. It implies the existence of incitements 
both to good and evil ; and of a freedom of 
choice between good and evil. Now, suppose 



HARMONY WITH PROVIDENCE. 61 

that punishment always and immediately 
followed transgression. Suppose the pro- 
fane swearer was always struck to the 
ground by lightning, the moment an oath 
escaped his lips; — suppose the earth opened 
to swallow up the murderer, the moment his 
work of death was done; — suppose the pes- 
tilence was sure to smite the drunkard or the 
adulterer; — do you not see that this would 
be no longer a state of trial ? Men would 
not dare to commit the outward sin, while 
the sword thus hung suspended over their 
heads ; but it would be in their hearts, nev- 
ertheless- It would be as if your father 
ordered you, James, to do a certain piece of 
work, and then stood over you with a horse- 
whip to enforce obedience. Of course, it 
would be no test of your obedience, — no 
trial of you, in any sense.'' 

11 Yes, mother, that is perfectly plain." 

"Now, if the Bible had not told us that 

this world is a state of trial, we might have 

been at a loss to understand a great many 

things in the government of God. We might 



62 THE GUIDING STAR. 

have wondered why punishment was ever 
delayed; and why the wicked sometimes 
seem to triumph, and the good to suffer. In 
fact, this state of things did fill some of the 
reflecting heathen with surprise. They felt 
that there must be some way of accounting 
for the seeming want of justice in the treat- 
ment which men receive. Now, the Bible 
comes in to explain the difficulty. It pre- 
sents a perfect and absolute solution qf it, 
and the only solution possible. It tells us 
that there is to be another state, of retribu- 
tion, as this is a state of trial; and that, in 
that state, all these seeming errors will be 
rectified, — the good finally rewarded, and 
the- wicked finally punished. The Bible, 
therefore, harmonizes perfectly with the 
course of Providence, and explains what 
would otherwise be mysterious in it. Is 
all this clear to you 1 " 

"Perfectly so," replied James and Fanny 
together. 

" It seems to me this is the strongest ar- 



HABMONY WITH PROVIDENCE. 63 

gument we have had yet, for the truth of 
the Bible," added James. 

"Some arguments have more weight for 
some minds, and some for others," said his 
mother. "However, I have omitted one 
thing. I intended to say further on this point, 
in answer to your remark, Fanny, that the 
good are not always happy, nor the wicked 
always miserable. You say that good men 
are sometimes poor and afflicted, and bad 
men are sometimes prosperous. But happi- 
ness depends on other things, more than on 
riches and prosperity. Do you not suppose 
that Paul and Silas were happy in their dun- 
geon, when they prayed and sang praises 
to God, so loud that the prisoners heard 
them?" 

"Yes, mother." 

" And how was it with Judas, when he 
had received the thirty pieces of silver for 
betraying his master ? — was he happy 1 
could he enjoy his gains ?" 

"No, mother; he was so full of remorse 
that he went away and hung himself." 



64 THE GUIDING STAR. 

" You see, then, that God can make men 
happy, in the absence of all outward com- 
forts; and he can fill a man with misery, so 
that he shall loathe his life, while sur- 
rounded with every luxury. Every man 
who has lived long knows this, and even 
children experience something of it. I dare 
say you can remember times when you were 
perfectly wretched, merely from having done 
wrong, without any outward cause of unea- 
siness." 

" Yes, I am sure I can," said Fanny, in a 
low voice. 

" There are other points of analogy be- 
tween the providential government of God 
and the principles of his government as 
made known in the Bible, which we shall 
have to notice very briefly. One is, that a 
considerable time often intervenes between 
the punishment and the offence. We are 
told, in the Bible, that a day is coming in 
which God will judge the world. But, 
meantime, sinners go on as they please, 
and mock, saying, Where is the promise of 



HARMONY WITH PROVIDENCE. 65 

his coming ? Now, it is the same in Provi- 
dence. A man commits a murder, we will 
suppose, and it is not known. He lives on 
for years, without detection; but at last the 
moment of detection arrives. In some un- 
expected and surprising manner, his crime 
is brought to light, and he gives up his life 
on the gallows. 

"Another point of analogy is this: We 
find, from the Bible, that repentance, alone, 
has no power to atone for sin. If Christ had 
not died, and by his death made an atone- 
ment for sin, our repentance would have 
done no good ; God could not have pardoned 
us." 

"'But why not?" said Fanny; "that 
seems strange." 

" Reflect a moment : suppose that the 
King of England, or the Congress of the 
United States, makes a law, — a law forbid- 
ding murder, for instance, — and annexes 
death as the penalty. Suppose that, instead 
of inflicting this penalty, they pardon every 
murderer, as soon as he professes repentance 



66 THE GUIDING STAR. 

for his crime ; what do you suppose would 
be the consequence ? " 

" O, I see that it would never do ; nobody 
would be afraid to kill another, then ; and 
besides, they would see that the law-maker 
had not kept his word." 

" Very well; the same consequences would 
have followed, if God had remitted the pen- 
alty threatened against sin, on repentance* 
But what I was going to say is, that the 
same fact is exhibited in the daily course of 
Providence. If a man injures his health, 
for example, by misconduct in youth, no 
matter how sincerely he may repent after- 
wards, he cannot avert the consequences. 
A man may, by a single act, entail upon 
himself suffering and disgrace for all the 
rest of his life, without any possibility of 
escape." 

" How dreadful that seems !" said Fanny. 

"Yes; and how it harmonizes with an- 
other dreadful fact, revealed in the Bible, — 
that a man may make sure the loss of his 
soul, so that nothing can avert it ! Another 



HARMONY WITH PROVIDENCE. 0* 

point of harmony between the course of 
Providence and revealed religion, may be 
found in the fact that the same conduct 
which is enjoined by one, as necessary to 
secure our temporal interests, is inculcated 
by the other, as tending to our eternal hap- 
piness. For instance, the Bible requires 
sobriety, temperance, moderation, self-con- 
trol, justice, honesty and charity. Now, on 
considering human life, and the history of 
mankind, we find that these are the very 
qualities which a man must possess and ex- 
hibit, in order to secure competence, health, 
tranquillity and honor, in this life. And 
there cannot be a single thing named which 
enlightened self-interest requires of men, 
which is not also inculcated in the Bible." 

"That is very curious and interesting," 
said James; "I should like to think more 
about that." 

"I advise you to think about it, and also 
more about the general subject of our con- 
versation, for it is not half exhausted ; and 
yet, we must stop here. When you are 
7 



68 THE GUIDING STAR. 

older, you will read a work in which you 
will find all these points, and others of a 
similar kind, fully illustrated. It is Butler's 
c Analogy of Religion to the Course of Na- 
ture.' Our next inquiry will be, whether 
all the parts of the Bible harmonize with 
each otherP 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE HARMONY BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THB 
SACRED WRITINGS IS A STRONG EVIDENCE OF THEIR 
CREDIBILITY. 

Fanny began the conversation by remark- 
ing that it did not seem to her that much of 
an argument for the truth of the Bible could 
be drawn from this source. 

" Why not ? " asked her mother. 

"O, because, mother, if the Bible had 
been invented by men, you know they 
would have had sense enough to make the 
different parts hang together." 

" Sense enough!" echoed her mother. 
"It takes more sense than you are aware 
of, I suspect. If you had lived a few years 
longer, you would have known better. 
Why, my dear child, it is the most difficult 
thing in the world, for one man, writing a 
single history, to keep from contradicting 



70 THE GUIDING STAR. 

himself. But the Bible was the work of 
many different authors, living in different 
countries and successive ages — " 

"But, mother, — I beg pardon for inter- 
rupting you, — but could not the later writ- 
ers have taken care to make their writings 
consistent with the first, and so on?" 

"Truly, my dear Fanny, you demand 
more miracles than are recorded in the Bible 
itself. In the first place, it could not have 
been done, had it been attempted. But, in 
the second place, what is to put it into the 
heads of so many men, in successive ages, 
to keep up such an imposture ? Even if a 
man could have been found to originate it, 
why should another man, who lived a cen- 
tury after, attempt to carry it on? You 
must suppose a Moses to write a fabulous 
account of the creation, the deluge, the call 
of Abraham, and the origin and wanderings 
of the Jews. Another man, who lives later, 
takes up the scheme, continues the history 
of the Jews in a minute and circumstantial 
manner, and gives further predictions of a 



HARMONY OP THE PARTS. 71 

great Prophet and Deliverer to come, who 
has been already prophesied of by his prede- 
cessor. Others succeed him, and take up 
the same purpose ; historians, poets and 
prophets, follow each other, writing with 
the greatest apparent candor and truth, and 
in the most sublime and exalted strains: 
and here, too, the same wonderful harmony 
subsists ; history, prophecy, types and insti- 
tutions, all pointing the same way. The 
predictions of the future Redeemer con- 
stantly become more and more clear and 
minute ; his birth, manner of life, character, 
sufferings and death, are portrayed most cir- 
cumstantially. Thus closes the canon of 
the Old Testament. After an interval of 
several hundred years, a new set of impos- 
tors arise, who pretend that this great Deliv- 
erer has actually come; who give us four 
evidently independent and yet harmonious 
histories of his life and death, containing a 
wonderfully pure and exalted system of 
morality, and agreeing in all respects with 

the predictions of the first writers. Other 
7* 



72 THE GUIDING STAR. 

writings follow, containing the precepts of 
the new religion, in letters to those who had 
embraced it, and a narrative of the spread 
of Christianity, also completely harmonizing 
with the preceding parts of the vast scheme 
of imposture. Is all this credible ? " 

"O, mother, I see how perfectly extrava- 
gant and foolish it is," said Fanny, "and 
how foolish /was to say such a thing ! " 

" But you cannot see half the absurdity 
of the supposition, my dear, I am confident; 
for, suppose the Bible contained only the 
four gospels, — yet, if these harmonized as 
perfectly as they do, with the same number 
of incidental and minor differences, showing 
that they are independent records, there 
would be sufficient evidence of their truth." 

" Why, mother ! " said Fanny. 

"But you say of their truth, mother; I 
thought it was the divinity of the Bible we 
were inquiring about," observed James. 

"As they claim to be divine, if you prove 
their truth, you establish also their divinity." 

"Yes, mother, — very true." 



HARMONY OF THE PARTS. 73 

"But, Fanny, do you not know that 
whenever two historians undertake to de- 
scribe an event which happened in their 
own time, and perhaps under their own 
observation, they often differ materially in 
their relation; — and if there are four nar- 
rators, the case is still worse." 

"But why, mother 1 I do not see why, 
at all." 

u Why does it happen that when you and 
James give me an account of the same cir- 
cumstance, you so frequently differ in your 
statements, each correcting the other, and 
modifying his or her relation ? " 

"I don't know, mother, I am sure; we 
seem to see the same thing with different 
eyes." 

u That is it, exactly : the impressions 
made on you are different ; one thinks a 
thing to be larger or smaller, the time longer 
or shorter, the sound louder or fainter, than 
the other. So it is with all persons, and, of 
course, with historians. There is another 
source of difference, too, in the fact that each 



74 THE GUIDING STAR. 

man has his peculiar notions and prejudices; 
and these will unavoidably modify the 
views he takes of any public character or 
event. You, yourself, Fanny, have noticed, 
in the different histories of England we have 
read together, what various and opposite 
characters of Cromwell are given us ; some 
making him almost an angel, and others 
almost a fiend." 

"Yes, mother; I have often wondered at 
that." 

" Take, now, the four gospels. They pro- 
fess to be independent histories of the life^ 
miracles, death and resurrection, of Jesus 
Christ. If they agreed in every particular, 
— -that is, were precisely alike, — they would 
lose their claim to be regarded as indepen- 
dent histories, and it would be concluded, at 
once, that the later writers borrowed from 
the earlier. There are differences enough to 
disprove this objection, and no more. But, 
on the whole, the agreement is perfect." 

"But I thought, mother," said James, 



HARMONY OF THE PARTS. 75 

" that there was a good deal of difficulty in 
reconciling their accounts." 

11 There was formerly supposed to be con- 
siderable difficulty, in some instances; but 
as men have advanced in the knowledge of 
oriental geography, manners and language, 
these difficulties have disappeared, one after 
the other ; and there is no doubt that a fur- 
ther advance in knowledge will clear up 
the few that are yet left. In the mean time, 
a new kind of evidence for the truth of the 
gospels is growing up in the same way. It 
is the evidence which springs from obviously 
undesigned coincidences between the Evan- 
gelists, and is a very convincing species of 
evidence. Dr. Paley first made use of it in 
a work which he calls Horce Paidince, and 
which is designed to exhibit the uninten- 
tional coincidences between the Acts and 
the Epistles." 

|* But I do not see how it can be proved 
that they are unintentional," said James. 

" You will see it, if I give you some ex- 
amples; because it is impossible, from the 



76 THE GUIDING STAR. 

nature of the case, to suppose any design. 
But as we have been conversing about the 
gospels, I prefer drawing my examples from 
them ; and I select them from Blunt' s i Ve- 
racity of the Gospels,' which is constructed 
on the same plan with Paley's work on the 
Acts. In Mark 6 : 31, we are told that 
Jesus said to his disciples, 'Come ye your- 
selves apart into a desert place, and rest a 
while; for, there were many,' adds the 
Evangelist, 'coming and going, and they 
had no leisure, so much as to eat.' Why 
there was all this coming and going, we do 
not learn from Mark. He goes on to de- 
scribe the miracle of feeding the five thou- 
sand in the desert. Turn now to John 6 : 
5—14, and you find his account of the same 
miracle. He says nothing about the c com- 
ing and going,' or about Jesus and his dis- 
ciples going apart to rest a while ; but he 
casually informs us that 'the passover, a 
feast of the Jews, was nigh.' This, then, 
was the reason of the crowd, and the reason 
why, by going apart for a while, they might 



HARMONY OF THE PARTS. 77 

escape it. Here is a. coincidence, and evi- 
dently an undesigned one : is it not 3 " 

" Yes, mother, certainly ; there is no pos- 
sibility of design there." 

" Another occurs in the same passage. 
John informs us that Jesus asked Philip. 
1 Whence shall we buy bread, that these 
may eat ? ' Why should he have asked 
Philip, particularly ? If we had the gospel 
of John alone, we should not know. But 
Luke, in his account of the same miracle, 
says that it was performed near Bethsaida 
(Luke 9 : 10), and in the first chapter of 
John, we learn that ' Philip was of Beth- 
saida.' Does this look like imposture ? " 

" Not in the least, I am sure, mother. I 
wish I could find out some of these coinci- 
dences myself." 

"If you study carefully enough, you may; 
there are undoubtedly more left to be discov- 
ered. My next example is found in Matt. 
26 : 67. ' They smote him with the palms 
of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, 
thou Christ \ who is he that smote thee?' 



78 THE GUIDING STAR. 

Now, if we had Matthew's gospel alone, we 
might ask, what occasion could there be for 
prophesying, when Christ had the offender 
before his eyes ? But when we read, in 
Luke 22 : 64, that the men who smote Jesus 
blindfolded him, we understand the matter 
at once. Once more; in Matt. 14: 1, it is 
said that Herod heard of the fame of Jesus, 
and said unto his servants. This is John the 
Baptist, &c. Why he should have talked 
to his servants about Christ, we do not 
know, till we read, in the eighth chapter of 
Luke, that among the women who accom- 
panied Christ was 'Joanna, the wife of 
Chuza, Herod' 's steivard.'* And in Acts 
13: 1, among the ' prophets and teachers, 
mention is made of l Manaen, which had 
been brought up with Herod the TelrarchS " 

" How very curious these are ! " said 
Fanny; " and how strange that I never 
noticed any of them ! I must read the Bible 
more carefully. But I hope you have more 
of them for us, mother." 

" There are many more in the book, but 



HARMONY OF TIIE PARTS. 79 

I can give you only one other at present. 
In Matt. 9 : 9, after an account of Christ's 
calling Matthew, it is added, 'As Jesus sat 
at meat in the house,' behold many publi- 
cans and sinners came and sat down with 
him, and his disciples. It appears rather 
singular to talk of Jesus sitting down in the 
house, without telling us whose house it 
was ; but Luke, in his account of the mat- 
ter, says that it was in Matthew's house ; 
and, therefore, it was perfectly natural for 
Matthew to use that form of expression, the 
house, as if everybody must know as well 
as he did what house was meant. Another 
circumstance recorded is, that many publi- 
cans came and sat down with them at table; 
a fact easily explained, when we remember 
that Matthew himself was a publican." 

" How much more interesting this part of 
our subject has been than I expected ! " said 
Fanny. 

"I have no doubt," said her mother, "that 
from this source alone evidence might be 
drawn sufficiently strong to establish the 
8 



80 THE GUIDING STAR. 

truth and genuineness of the different books 
of Scripture. But it would require a volume 
to bring out this evidence, and the subject 
can be but glanced at in a single conversa- 
tion. Probably, any person who should set 
himself to examine and compare Scripture 
with Scripture, would be astonished to find 
what an amount of reference there is, in each 
book, to all or some of the books, so that 
they are interwoven together, and make one 
whole. The laws given to the Jews are 
continually referred to in the Psalms, the 
historical and prophetical books, and the 
New Testament. The types of the Old 
Testament are constantly brought up in 
the New. The agreement of prophecy with 
subsequent events forms a separate branch 
of our argument, and will be considered by 
itself. But that such a multitude of harmo- 
nies and coincidences should be found to 
exist, without a single discrepancy, is abso- 
lute proof that the Bible is true. And it has 
been justly remarked, that this harmony and 
self-consistency is the only evidence we 



HARMONY OF THE PARTS. 81 

have of the truth of any ancient history. 
For if a man chose to call in question the 
whole Roman history, with all its evidences 
from books, inscriptions, coins, &c., assert- 
ing them to be all forged, one could only 
urge, in reply, the extreme improbability 
that such an attempt would be made, and 
the moral certainty that it could not be made 
without innumerable blunders and inconsist- 
encies; so that if we had much less evidence 
than we have in support of the Roman his- 
tory, we should still accept it as true. But 
we have had a long conversation. Our next 
subject will be, the majesty and sublimity of 
the Scriptures; and you may find passages 
which you regard as strikingly distinguished 
by these characteristics." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE BIBLE BEARS A STAMP OF DIGNITY AND MAJESTY, 
UNLIKE WHAT IS FOUND IN ANY HUMAN PRODUCTION. 

"Mother," said Fanny, as she seated 
herself, Bible in hand, on the next Sabbath 
evening, "James and I have found a great 
many passages which appeared to us very 
sublime, — so many that I am afraid we 
shall not have time to read them. Many 
of them are in the book of Job." 

"'Yes, perhaps there is no book in the 
Bible that is more characterized by sublim- 
ity," said her mother. "However, before 
we read, let us talk a little. We have pro- 
ceeded altogether' on the plan of inquiring 
what marks or characteristics might be ex- 
pected in a revelation from God, and then 
inquiring whether these marks are to be 
found in the Bible. So far as our investi- 
gations have proceeded, the Bible stands the 



DIGNITY AND MAJESTY. 83 

test perfectly. Let us now see whether it 
possesses that dignity and majesty which 
might be expected in a Divine revelation. 
For if a book, professing to be such a reve- 
lation, should give us low and imperfect 
representations of the Supreme Being, — if it 
presented mean and unworthy views of 
man's relations and destiny, and degraded 
conceptions of the rewards promised to vir- 
tue, — and if the style were poor, faulty and 
unsuited to great themes, — these defects 
would exclude it from all claims to be re- 
garded as Divine ; would they not ! " 

"Yes, mother, of course." 

" Are any of these suppositions true, with 
regard to it V* 

"No j mother, certainly not, it seems to 
me," said Fanny; "but I do not know how 
to express what I think about it." 

" Neither do I," said James. 

" Then I will read to you one or two pas- 
sages, which will, perhaps, express for you 
what you wish to say. The first is one 

often quoted from Sir William Jones. He 

8* 



84 THE GUIDING STAR. 

says that the ' Scriptures contain, independ- 
ent of their Divine origin, more true sublim- 
ity, more exquisite beauty, more morality, 
more important history, and finer strains of 
poetry and eloquence, than could be col- 
lected, within the same compass, from all 
other books that were ever composed, in 
any other age or in any other idiom.' The 
celebrated Burke says, in speaking of the 
power of the Deity, that l the Scripture 
alone can supply ideas answerable to the 
majesty of the subject. In the Scripture, 
wherever God is represented as appearing or 
speaking, everything terrible in nature is 
called up to heighten the awe and solemnity 
of the Divine presence. The Psalms and the 
prophetical books are crowded with in- 
stances of this kind.' And now, if any of 
the passages you have found contain repre- 
sentations of the Divine majesty, you may 
read them." 

After some rustling and turning of leaves, 
Fanny read a part of the eighteenth Psalm : 



DIGNITY AND MAJESTY. 85 

" In my distress I called upon the Lord, 
And cried unto my God : 
He heard my voice out of his temple, 
And my cry came before him, into his ears. 
Then the earth shook and trembled ; 
The foundations also of the hills moved, 
And were shaken, because he was wroth. 
There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, 
And fire out of his mouth devoured : 
Coals were kindled by it. 
He bowed the heavens also, and came down : 
And darkness was under his feet. 
And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly ; 
Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 
He made darkness his secret place ; 
His pavilion round about him were dark waters 
And thick clouds of the skies. 
At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds 

passed ; 
Hail-stones and coals of fire. 
The Lord also thundered in the heavens, 
And the Highest gave his voice ; 
Hail-stones and coals of fire. 
Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them ; 
And he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them; 
Then the channels of waters were seen, 
And the foundations of the world were discovered 
At thy rebuke, Lord, 
At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils." 



86 THE GUIDING STAR. 

Fanny read this as if she felt its grandeur. 
James next read several passages from the 
book of Job, ending with the twenty-sixth 
chapter ; though he said he had many more 
to read, if his mother had time to hear them. 

She observed that one of the verses he 
had read contained, perhaps, as sublime a 
figure as was to be found in the Bible. 

" The pillars of heaven tremble, 
And are astonished at his reproof." 

"There is, however/' continued she, "an 
equally striking and grand example of per- 
sonification in the third chapter of Habak- 
kuk. I have Herder's translation of it here, 
and will read it, with some slight altera- 
tions : 

' When God came from Teman, 
The Holy One from Mount Paran, 
His glory covered the heaven3, 
The earth was full of his praise. 
His brightness was like the sun; 
Rays of light shot forth from his hand ; 
And these were hut the veiling of his might 
Before him walked the pestilence, 
And burning coals went forth at his feet. 



DIGNITY AND MAJESTY. 87 

He stood ; the earth was moved : 

He looked ; and the nations were scattered abroad. 

The everlasting mountains were broken in pieces, 

The perpetual hills did bow, 

When he marched forth of old. 

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: 

The curtains of Midian trembled. 

Was Jehovah angry at the rivers ? 

Was the blast of thy breath at the waves ? 

Was thy wrath against the sea ? 

For thou didst ride upon thy horses 

And chariots of victory. 

Thou drewest thy bow, 

Multiplying seven-fold thine arrows, 

And the streams cleft asunder the land. 

The mountains saw thee, and trembled ; 

The overflowing waters fled away ; 

The deep uttered his voice, 

And lifted up his hands on high. 

The sun and moon stood still in their places, 

At the dazzling light of thine arrows flying, 

At the brightness of thy glittering spear.' " 

The children liked this very much, and 
begged that their mother would read them 
more of Herder's translations. She accord- 
ingly read the two following, from Isaiah 
and Daniel : 



88 THE GUIDING STAR. 

*' The year in which the king Uzziah died, 
I saw Jehovah sitting on a high, uplifted throne ; 
His train of glory filled the temple, 
And round the throne his servants stood. 
Six wings had each of these ; 
With twain they covered their face, 
With twain they covered their feet, 
And with twain they did fly. 
And one cried to another, and said, 
6 Holy, holy, holy, 
Jehovah, God of hosts, 
The earth is full of thy majesty ! ' 
The foundations of the pillars moved 
At the voice of him that cried, 
And the temple was filled with smoke." 

Isaiah 6 : 1 — 4. 

" This I saw until the thrones were raised, 
And the Ancient of Days enthroned : 
His garment was white as snow, 
The hair of his head like pure wool ; 
His throne was like the fiery flame, 
Its wheels like burning fire. 
A fiery stream issued forth, 
And went before his face ; 
A thousand thousand ministered to him, 
Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. 
The judgment was set, 
And the books were opened." 



DIGNITY AND MAJESTY. $** 

Fanny would willingly have spent the 
whole evening in listening to passages like 
this ; and she assured her mother that they 
had not read "half a quarter" of those 
which she had found. 

"I do not doubt it, my dear," replied her 
mother; "the Bible, in fact, is full of such 
sublime representations : but we must not 
lose sight of our argument, and of the pur- 
pose for which we are citing these passages. 
The very fact we are to notice is, that while 
the Scriptures are full of God, full of de- 
scriptions and representations of him, there 
is not, through the whole of them, one un- 
worthy or imperfect delineation. Every- 
where the same grandeur, majesty and 
sublimity ; the same unspotted holiness and 
unswerving justice ; the same truth, and 
wisdom, and love. And, to give this fact 
its full weight, we must contrast the Je- 
hovah of the Bible with the false deities 
of other nations, — the cruel, impure and 
contemptible gods of the heathen. Then 
let us ask ourselves whether any man, 



90 THE GUIDING STAR. 

or set of men, was capable of inventing 
such a God as is revealed in the Scrip- 
tures." 

"No, indeed ! " replied Fanny, with fer- 
vor. 

" Let us next consider the views which 
the Bible gives us of maris relations and 
destiny. In this respect, there is a wide dif- 
ference, or rather a perfect contrast, between 
the Christian religion and other previously 
existing religions. According to them, man 
is a creature of time, born to flutter away a 
brief existence, like the butterfly, and then 
pass out of existence. The Bible represents 
him as an heir of immortality, born to live 
through endless ages, related to God him- 
self, and destined to live as long as God 
shall live. The heathen systems knew of 
no worthy end for which he came into 
being, and considered him as the product of 
chance or fate, — the same blind fate which 
governed his actions and appointed his 
death. The Christian religion teaches us 
that man is a moral and accountable being, 



DIGNITY AND MAJESTY. 91 

the creature of God, and the object of his 
unceasing care; amenable to his law, created 
for his glory, and destined to give an account 
of every work and every secret thought. 
How ennobling is one view, — how degrad- 
ing the other ! " 

"Yet, mother," said James, "I thought 
you said, once before, that the Christian re- 
ligion differed from others in humbling man, 
instead of exalting him; and that this proved 
it not to be a human invention." 

"So I did, my dear; and this is another 
point of contrast, not less striking, and not 
less favorable to Christianity. She humbles 
where they exalt, and exalts where they 
degrade. She gives man just views of his 
own weakness, sinfulness and folly, leading 
to self-distrust and humility ; while she 
encourages him to effort, by pointing to 
what he may become through the grace of 
God, and to his high destiny if he is faith- 
ful. Other systems puff him up with false 
notions of his own wisdom and goodness, 
leading to self-confidence and vain glory; 
9 



92 THE GUIDING STAR. 

while they hold out nothing in the future 
to inspire him with the love of true great- 
ness." 

" What a strange mixture there seems to 
be in men — I mean in man — of greatness 
and littleness ! " said James. 

'•Very true, James; if you will hand me 
Young's ' Night Thoughts/ from the book- 
case, I will read to you a passage which 
expresses the same thought. Here it is. 
Speaking of man, he calls him — 

' A beam ethereal, sullied and absorbed ! 
Though sullied and dishonored, still Divine ! 
Dim miniature of greatness absolute ! 
An heir of glory ! a frail child of dust ! 
Helpless immortal ! insect infinite ! 
A worm ! a god ! — I tremble at myself, 
And in myself am lost.' " 

"I think I have read that passage some- 
where before," said Fanny; "but I did not 
understand it so well as I do now; it is very 
striking." 

"And do you remember no passages of 



DIGNITY AND MAJESTY. 93 

Scripture which contain similar representa- 
tions ? " asked her mother. 

As Fanny could think of none, her mother 
read the eighth Psalm. 

" ' When I look at the heavens, the work of thy hands, 
The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, — 
What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? 
The son of man, that thou visitest him ? 
Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels ; 
Thou hast crowned him with honor and majesty ; 
Hast made him lord of all thy works ; 
Hast placed all things under his feet. 
His are the herds of sheep and oxen ; 
The beasts of the field are his also ; 
The fowls of heaven and the fish of the sea, 
And whatever passeth the paths of the seas.' 

"In contrast with which, we may take 
such passages as the following : 

6 Behold, the nations are as a drop in the bucket, 
And are counted as the small dust of the balance. 
All nations before him are as nothing, 
And they are counted to him less than nothing, and 
vanity.' v 

8 How, then, can man be justified with God ? 
Or how can he be clean, that is born of a woman ? 



94 THE GUIDING STAR. 

Behold even the moon, and it shineth not ; 
Yea, the stars are not pure in his sight ; 
How much less man, that is a worm ! 
And the son of man, which is a worm ! ' 

"But we have exceeded our usual time 
of conversation, and can only allude to the 
remaining point, — the superior nature of the 
rewards promised in the Scriptures to those 
offered by other religions. I believe you 
know, however, that the latter are entirely 
sensual and gross in their nature, while the 
heaven of the Bible is entirely spiritual, con- 
sisting in the enjoyment of God. A little 
reflection will show you how strong is the 
proof derived from this source for the Divine 
origin of the Scriptures." 

" But one of the places I have marked is 
a description of heaven, mother; just let me 
read that, will you?" said Fanny. 

"Very well, my dear ; read it." 

Fanny read part of the twenty-first chap- 
ter of Revelation, beginning at the tenth 
verse, and ending with the fifth verse of 
chapter twenty-second. 



DIGNITY AND MAJESTY. 95 

"We have now reached another division 
of our subject/' said her mother, — u the 
adaptation of the Gospel to man's wants. 
And the first want we shall notice is, a 
clearer knowledge, — 1, of God, — 2, of 
Duty, — and 3, of himself and his destiny." 
9* 



CHAPTER IX. • 

THE BIBLE IS ADAPTED TO MAN'S WANTS, INASMUCH AS 
IT FURNISHES HIM WITH KNOWLEDGE CLEARER THAN 
THAT DERIVED FROM NATURE. 

" Mother," said James, "may I ask one 
question, before we begin ? " 

11 Certainly, my dear, you may ask one, 
or more ; but I do not very well see how you 
will do it before we begin." 

"I meant before we begin on our regular 
subject. I want to know how it is that all 
nations seem to have some sort of a god or 
other ; — if they do not know about the true 
God, I should think they would not have 
any deity." 

"It is owing, I suppose, to the constitu- 
tion of man. There seems to be implanted 
in him a desire to worship : he must have 
something to look up to, something to rev- 
erence ; and if he has no knowledge of the 
true God, he will invent gods for himself." 



KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 97 

"But is it true, mother," asked Fanny, 
"' that all nations do worship some god 3 " 

"It is true, I believe, my dear. Travel- 
lers bririg us an account of no nation which 
has not some object of worship. And this 
fact, taken in connection with another, viz., 
that men always become like the objects of 
their worship, shows the extreme importance 
and desirableness to men of a knowledge of 
the true God. The effect of idol- worship 
is always debasing and polluting in the 
highest degree; and the very first step could 
not have been taken towards the redemp- 
tion of man from the power of sin, without 
communicating to him a knowledge of Je- 
hovah. " 

'•But you say that men become like the 
object of their worship : — most of the people 
in this country do not seem to be like God 
at all, and yet they worship him." 

" They acknowledge him in words, and 
worship him with the body ; but how few 
worship him in reality, 'in spirit and in 
truth ! ' Among those who do thus wor- 



98 THE GUIDING STAR. 

ship God, there is a constant and growing 
likeness to him. This is one of the means 
by which sanctification is effected ; and the 
Bible assures us that when we see bur Sav- 
iour face to face, we shall be like him, for 
we shall see him as he is. But even the 
nominal worship of Jehovah has a far bet- 
ter effect on the character than the worship 
of polluted deities, and probably there is no 
country where the true God is known in 
which the state of morals is anything like 
as low as it is in those parts of the world 
where idol-worship exists. Indeed, it is hard 
for us even to form a conception of such 
a corrupt state of society as existed among 
the Greeks, for instance, according to the 
accounts of historians. Your question, 
James, has led us directly to the subject of 
our lesson to-day. The first want of 'man, 
in his natural state, evidently is, clearer 
knowledge. Without a revelation of some 
kind, he could not discover what he needs 
to know either of God, of the future, or of 
duty. We have already seen that this is 



KNOWLEDGE OP GOD. 99 

one of the considerations which renders a 
revelation probable, at all; and if it was 
probable at all, there was a probability that 
it would teach those things which man 
needed to be taught Indeed, the very idea 
of a revelation is the communication of 
knowledge, — for what is a revelation which 
reveals nothing?" 

" What did the men do, then, who lived 
before the Bible was written ? " asked Fan- 
ny. "Adam, for instance, — he must have 
needed a knowledge of God, even though he 
was innocent. And he must have known 
about God, in some way, of course ; — how 
do you suppose he did, mother ? " 

" It does not follow that a writte?i revela- 
tion would have been needed, if man had 
not fallen," said her mother. "God un- 
doubtedly made himself known to Adam 
directly, and held frequent intercourse with 
him, before his fall. I believe I have re- 
marked before, that an innocent creature 
would have needed the knowledge of his 
Creator and communion with him, in order 



100 



THE GUIDING STAR. 



to the perfection and happiness of his nature. 
Indeed, it is difficult to see how there could 
be any right or wrong, and consequently 
how there could be any true dignity or hap- 
piness, for a rational creature, without the 
knowledge of God. He would resemble the 
brutes in his enjoyments, and would be dis- 
tinguished from them only by the sense of 
an unappeasable want. But after man fell, 
the revelation of God to him became neces- 
sary on other grounds. Do you see what 
they are 1 " 

" Why, I suppose," said James, " that if 
God meant to restore and pardon men, he 
could not do it without giving them a knowl- 
edge of himself." 

"No, certainly not, and that for several 
reasons. If he designed to restore man to 
holiness, he must present him with a holy 
object to worship. He must give the knowl- 
edge of himself as a lawgiver, before he 
could impose a law. And he must give the 
knowledge of himself and of his law, before 



KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 101 

he could send a Redeemer in the person of 
his Son." 

" Yes, mother, — I see that." 

"Now, the Bible contains an account — 
an exceedingly interesting account — of the 
means which God adopted to keep alive 
among men the knowledge of himself, pre- 
paratory to sending his Son. He first se- 
lected a nation to be the peculiar depository 
of this knowledge. He called Abraham out 
from among his idolatrous companions, re- 
vealed himself to him, established him in a 
new country, and entered into solemn cove- 
nant with him. His descendants, however, 
enslaved by the Egyptians, lost almost 
wholly the light thus communicated to 
them ; and, if they did not forget the God 
of their fathers, yet they associated other 
gods with him, and ascribed to him unwor- 
thy attributes." 

"Then it seems as if all that God had 
done by calling Abraham was lost again, 
while the Israelites were in Egypt. Was it 
not very strange that God should leave 



102 THE GUIDING STAR. 

them so long in a country where idols were 
worshipped, if he wanted them to worship 
him only ? " 

"On the contrary, the bondage in Egypt 
was a part, and a most important part, of 
the education of the Israelites. For you 
must remember that they were ignorant and 
foolish ; they were to be taught and edu- 
cated like children. Now, it would not have 
been enough for God simply to reveal him- 
self to such a people; they were not pre- 
pared to receive so sublime a doctrine, nor 
to relish such a deity. They would have 
clung to their idolatry, unless God had 
adopted some means to secure their grati- 
tude and affection." 

"But still, mother, I cannot see how 
their being kept in Egypt so long, among 
idolaters, had any tendency to cure them of 
idolatry." 

"I can make it plain to you, I think, my 
dear. There are some excellent thoughts, 
on this point, in a very interesting book, 
called 'The Philosophy of the Plan of Sal- 



KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 103 

vation.' It was necessary, in the first place, 
in order to the accomplishment of God's de- 
signs for the Jews, that the bond of national 
attachment should be very strong, so that 
the nation should feel and act together like 
one man. This end was brought about so 
fully in regard to them, that they have for- 
ever remained a separate people. Amidst 
all their dispersions and banishments, and 
whilst other nations have been scattered to 
the four winds, they have continued one — 
bound together by a tie which nothing can 
sever. Now, one of the most important 
means of bringing about this result was the 
bondage in Egypt. It is well known that 
people who suffer together, from the same 
cause, become strongly attached to each 
other. Nothing could have so bound the 
Israelites together as their common suffer- 
ings under the Egyptian yoke. Do you see 
this?" 

"Yes, mother, but — u 

"But what?" 

" Why, it seems as if that was a slight 
10 



104 THE GUIDING STAR. 

advantage, to counterbalance the danger 
they were in of learning idolatry." 

" Let us see whether the danger was as 
great as you suppose. If the Egyptians 
had been their friends and allies, their ex- 
ample might, indeed, have been detrimental 
to the Israelites. But as they were opp?~ess~ 
ors and task-masters, their idolatry, as well 
as everything else connected with them, 
would be rendered odious to the Jews." 

" O yes, — I see that now ! " 

" Besides, there were other and more im- 
portant ends to be answered. God wished 
to reveal himself to the Israelites in such a 
way as to gain their affections. If he failed 
to secure their love, the revelation of himself 
to them would be useless; they would not re- 
tain the knowledge of a deity to whom they 
were not bound by any ties of gratitude. 
Now, what more effectual mode of securing 
the love and gratitude of a nation could 
God have chosen, than that he adopted with 
the Israelites ? After they had been groan- 
ing for years under a cruel servitude, when 



KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 105 

there seemed no hope of deliverance, and 
when they were ready, in their despair, to 
pray for death, — Moses is sent to tell them 
that God, the God of their fathers, the God 
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had seen their 
affliction, and was about to deliver them. 
Do you not see how every eye and every 
heart in the nation would be directed tow- 
ards this promised deliverer?" 

" O yes ! — I wonder I never thought of it 
in that way before." 

" Still further: their deliverance is not 
effected at once : — Pharaoh resists the com- 
mand of Jehovah, — there is a period of 
doubt and suspense, — ■ the people look anx- 
iously to see which party will be victorious, 
the haughty king and his idol gods, on the 
one hand, or the God of their fathers, on the 
other. A series of remarkable miracles is 
wrought before them, adapted to exhibit the 
power and greatness of Jehovah, and his 
superiority to the Egyptian deities, in a clear 
light. God's judgments upon Pharaoh grow 
more and more severe, till he is forced not 



106 THE GUIDING STAR. 

only to consent to the departure of the Isra- 
elites, but to entreat it; and finally, when 
his mad presumption leads him to pursue 
them even to the borders of the Red Sea, 
the sea opens before the flying people of 
God, at the command of Moses, only to re- 
turn and swallow up the host of Pharaoh 
before their eyes. Now, consider how ad- 
mirably adapted every part of this chain 
of events was, to inspire the Israelites 
with reverence, admiration, gratitude and 
love, — to convince them that Jehovah alone 
was God, and to lead them, as we are 
told it did lead them, ' to fear the Lord, 
and believe the Lord and his servant, 
Moses.' n 

"But I am astonished at myself, mother," 
said James, "that I never thought before 
about what was God's design in sending 
the Israelites into Egypt, or in all those mir- 
acles which Moses wrought ; it seems now 
as clear as daylight." 

"Yes," said Fanny; "and it seems 
stranger than ever, how the Israelites could 



KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 107 

have been so foolish and stupid as to go 
back into idolatry, after they had seen such 
things." 

"And a great many more things, just as 
wonderful," added James; "for, you know, 
all through Judges and Kings, after God 
had performed a thousand more miracles, it 
says over and over again, that : the children 
of Israel forsook the Lord and served Baal." 

"Sure enough!" said Fanny; — "how 
strange ! " 

"'Perhaps, in the sight of God, it is far 
less strange than some part of your con- 
duct," said her mother. "If you com- 
pare your history with that of the Jews, I 
think you will find that you have received 
more wonderful and convincing displays 
of the Divine perfections; and yet, you 
are continually setting up idols in your 
heart." 

As Fanny made no reply, her mother 

resumed: "I should like to talk longer 

with you on this subject, and show you 

the means which God took, in his dealings 

10* 



108 THE GUIDING STAR. 

with the Jews, to reveal to them his vari- 
ous attributes. For instance, how he com- 
municated to them an idea of his holiness, 
by requiring that animals offered in sacri- 
fice should be from a particular class, that 
they should be without spot or blemish ; that 
all the vessels of the sanctuary, and every- 
thing used in the worship of God, should 
be purified; that no person afflicted with a 
loathsome disease should enter the place 
of worship; that a certain class or tribe 
should be sanctified to offer sacrifices for 
the rest of the people, and that out of these 
the high priest alone might enter the holy 
of holies, and he but once a year, — bare- 
footed ; — the effect of these, and other ordi- 
nances, evidently was to communicate the 
idea so often repeated, — £ I, the Lord your 
God, am holy.' But I will leave you to 
discover for yourselves how God's justice 
and other perfections were taught to the 
Jews. Not to lose sight of our argument, 
we have seen that man's first want was 
clearer knowledge. That the Bible meets 



KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 109 

this want, so far as the character of God 
is concerned, we have also seen. Next 
time we will examine the question, what 
new light it throws on the subject of 
Duty." 



CHAPTER X. 

THE SYSTEM OF DUTIES ENJOINED IN THE BIBLE IS FAR 
PURER THAN THAT TAUGHT BY ANY OTHER RELIGION, 
AND IS, IN FACT, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. 

"We are now examining how far the 
Bible is adapted to the wants of man. And 
the first of these wants is clearer knowledge 
of God. This the Bible furnishes. The 
second is a clearer knowledge of Duty, or 
of right and wrong. A revelation from God 
might be expected to unfold a purer system 
of morality than existed elsewhere. What 
have you to say on this point 1 " 

"I remember what you told us before, 
mother." said Fanny, "about the way in 
which the Greeks treated their slaves, and 
sometimes their children ; and I know they 
stole, too, and taught their children to steal 
and lie." 

"I have a general notion," said James, 
"that the morality of heathen nations has 



PURITY OF PRECEPTS. Ill 

always been much lower than that of Chris- 
tian nations ; but I do not remember any 
particular examples of it, except those 
Fanny named." 

"Our question," said his mother, "in- 
cludes more than morality r , which is com- 
monly limited to the duties we owe each 
other; it relates to the whole subject of 
duty. Our duties may be divided into three 
classes : those which we owe to God, those 
which we owe to our fellow-men, and those 
which we owe to ourselves. These duties 
grow out of our relations ; and, as all other 
relations are founded upon and grow out of 
our relation to God, therefore, our duties to 
each other and to ourselves grow out of our 
relation to God. In other words, the only 
true foundation of morality is religion. 
And if this fundamental point of our rela- 
tion to God, and the duties consequent upon 
it, is overlooked or misunderstood, there can 
be no perfect system of morals." 

" Then I do not see but the morality of 
heathen nations is condemned at once," said 



112 THE GUIDING STAB. 

James, " for you have shown us before that 
they were wholly defective in their views of 
God." 

" Very true/' said his mother. " This su- 
preme love to God, which lies at the found- 
ation of all duty, is taught nowhere but in 
the Bible. The Greeks and Romans never 
had the most remote idea of such a thing. 
That man was to live for God, that his end 
was to glorify God, and that he was the 
property of God, they never suspected. 
Every man was to live for himself, or, at 
least, for his country. Thus they not only 
failed entirely in the duties comprised under 
the first table of the law, but this defect 
spoiled every other duty, inasmuch as our 
duties to man grow ultimately out of our 
common relation to God." 

" But, mother, that is just what I do not 
understand," said Fanny, "and I have been 
all in a puzzle about it, these last few min- 
utes. I do not understand how my duties to 
you, for instance, grow out of my relation to 



PURITY OF PRECEPTS. 113 

God ; or why I could not be a good daugh- 
ter, even if I had never heard of God." 

"Let us consider/ 5 said her mother. 
"You owe me, in the first place, certain 
duties in common with all other beings, and 
independent of my particular relation to 
you. One of the duties which every man 
owes to every other man is, not to interfere 
with his rights , not to injure him in life, 
property, or reputation. But whence came 
these rights ? How came any man to have 
any rights, at all 1 It is plain that he must 
have derived them from God. God created 
him, and he also created you : you are. 
therefore, his fellow-creature ; you both sus- 
tain the same relation to God, and both re- 
ceive the same rights from him ; and one 
of these is the right not to be injured. Is 
this plain?" 

"Yes, mother, very plain." 

" Now, in your case and mine, you owe 
me certain duties which you do not owe to 
your fellow-creatures in general : but these 
duties grow out of your relation to me as a 



114 THE GUIDING STAR. 

daughter, and this relation God has consti- 
tuted. If we had both come into the world 
by chance^ you would have owed me no 
duties, so far as I can perceive." 

The children were both silent, and re- 
flected. At last Fanny spoke. " You said 
we owed duties to ourselves, mother ; I do 
not see what they are, or how there can be 
any." 

" Why, Fanny!" said James, "have you 
forgotten that question in the Catechism, — 
what is required in the sixth commandment, 
— and the answer to it ? " 

"O, to be sure; I wonder I did not think 
of that." 

"In regard to this class of duties," said 
their mother, " the morality of the Greeks 
and Romans was entirely defective. They 
held it to be not only lawful, but magnani- 
mous, for a man to take his own life, when 
he had nothing more to hope for in this 
world." 

"Yes, Cato killed himself, you know," 
said James. 



PUKITY OF PRECEPTS. 115 

" And Seneca says, l If thy mind be mel- 
ancholy and in misery, thou mayest put a 
period to this wretched condition. Wher- 
ever thou lookest, there is an end to it. See 
that precipice ; there thou mayest have lib- 
erty. Seest thou that sea, that river, that 
well ? Liberty is at the bottom of it.' " 

" Seneca ? I thought he was a very wise 
man," said Fanny. 

"He was so accounted," replied her 
mother, "and was so, in some things; and 
yet, you see he was ignorant of so very ob- 
vious a truth as that he who gave life 
alone has a right to recall it." 

"Then, mother, was there no duty at all 
which the ancients knew and practised ? " 

"Yes; there were some points, especially 
the duties of a citizen to the state, which 
they seemed to understand very well. But 
right and wrong were so blended together in 
their institutions, that it was difficult to sep- 
arate them. Besides, in answering such a 
question, it is necessary to distinguish be- 
tween the philosophers and the mass of the 
11 



116 THE GUIDING STAR. 

people. The philosophers, who were few 
in number, and who devoted their lives to 
study, did attain to some sublime specula- 
tions respecting virtue and duty : but these 
were wholly unknown to the common peo- 
ple ; and if they had been known by them, 
could not have been understood, nor, if they 
had been understood, would they have been 
practised. There was nothing to give them 
the force of a law, — nothing to make them 
binding. They were mere speculations; 
delighted in by the philosophers themselves, 
as cultivating intellectual acuteness, but re- 
garded even by them as having little to do 
with conduct." 

"I have read, somewhere, that the Bible 
is the only book which teaches the forgive- 
ness of injuries; is that true, mother? 55 said 
James. 

"Not absolutely, perhaps, yet true in the 
general spirit of the assertion. The ancient 
stoics inculcated a spirit of forgiveness ; but 
it was rather an indifference to injuries than 
a pardon of them. It was a part of their 



PURITY OP PRECEPTS. 117 

system to make men indifferent both to 
pleasure and pain, to benefits and injuries. 
Their doctrine of forgiveness, therefore, had 
little in common with the Christian precept 
1 Love your enemies, do good to them that 
hate you, and pray for them that despite- 
fully use you. 5 It has been sometimes as- 
serted that there is no duty enjoined in the 
Bible which is not taught somewhere in the 
works of the ancient sages. And, perhaps, 
in a very limited sense, this may be true : 
that is, there are precepts scattered here and 
there, through their works, which have a 
resemblance to the precepts of the Bible. 
But, in the first place, they are scattered at 
random, and form no complete system, — one 
man having discovered one truth, while he 
was blind to others. In the second place, 
they were wholly inoperative, having no 
authority, and exerting no influence in prac- 
tice. In short, the true and proper test of 
^what any system can accomplish is what it 
does accomplish; and, tried by this test, all 
the systems of ancient philosophy are worth- 



118 THE GUIDING STAR. 

less. They accomplished nothing for men ; 
they produced no reformation, they origin- 
ated no moral renovation. After they had 
all been tried, there was ample evidence that 
something more was needed." 

"I should think that infidels could not 
help seeing the superiority of the Bible, in 
this respect, " said James. 

"They do see it," replied his mother, 
"and some of them have acknowledged it. 
Diderot, one of the most famous French infi- 
dels, was one day found by an acquaintance 
explaining a chapter from one of the gospels 
to his little daughter. In reply to the expres- 
sions of surprise uttered by his visiter, Did- 
erot said, c I understand you ; but, in truth, 
what better lesson could I give her ? ' Lord 
Bolingbroke, a celebrated English deist, says 
that, ' supposing Christianity to have been 
an invention, it is the most amiable inven- 
tion ever imposed on men, and the most for 
their good ; ' and that ' the Gospel is one con- 
tinued lesson of the strictest morality, of jus- 
tice, of benevolence, and of universal char- 



PUEITY OF PRECEPTS. 119 

ity.' Gibbon, another renowned infidel, 
allows that ' the Christian religion contains 
a pure, benevolent, and universal system of 
ethics, adapted to every duty and every con- 
dition in life.' " 

"How strange." said James, "that they 
should have seen all this, and yet continued 
infidels ! " 

"Yes; the fault was in their hearts, not 
their heads. I will conclude our conversa- 
tion with reading a passage from the works 
of Bonnet, a learned and pious French au- 
thor, who lived in the last century. i I shall 
not inquire,' says he, 6 whence these plain, 
artless fishermen have been able to dictate 
to mankind a system of morals so far supe- 
rior to what reason had till then conceived, 
— a system in which all the duties of man 
are comprised ; which refers them all to 
their true source; which forms into one 
family all the different societies dispersed 
over the earth ; which binds closely together 
all the members of that family ; which con- 
nects it with the great family of celestial 
11* 



120 THE GUIDING STAR. 

intelligences ; and which proclaims Him the 
father of those families whose goodness ex- 
tends from the sparrow to the cherubim. I 
shall readily acknowledge that so sublime a 
philosophy did not take its rise in the turbid 
waters of the Jordan, and that so bright a 
light did not break out from the thick dark- 
ness of the synagogue.' 

" There is still another point on which 
man needs a light clearer than that fur- 
nished by nature, and that is, his oivn des- 
tiny, This will be our next subject." 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE BIBLE FURNISHES THE KNOWLEDGE WHICH MAN NEEDS 
OF THE FUTURE, AND OF HIS OWN RELATIONS TO IT. 

" Mother," said James, as they took their 
seats on the succeeding Sabbath evening, 
" Fanny and I have been wondering why it 
was necessary that men should know any- 
thing about the future, or about the conse- 
quences of doing right or wrong. As long 
as God had plainly made known to them 
his will, why could they not have gone on 
to do it, without understanding anything 
further?" 

" They could have done so, perhaps, but 
most certainly they would not ; and they 
would have wanted one powerful class of 
motives for so doing. If they had remained 
innocent, so that the whole race would natu- 
rally and spontaneously have obeyed the law 
of God, as Adam did before his fall, it would 



122 THE GUIDING STAR. 

not have been necessary \ strictly speaking, 
that they should know anything about the 
future. But the law is not made for the 
righteous, but for sinners, — those who need 
inducements to do right, as well as the 
knowledge of right, — who must be driven 
to obedience by penalties, since they are not 
constrained to it by love. If God issued a 
law, determining at the same time to inflict 
a certain penalty on the transgressors of it, 
it would seem hardly consistent with benev- 
olence, or with truth, to withhold from his 
creatures all knowledge of that penalty." 
"No, mother, I see it would not." 
"Moreover, some duties could hardly be 
performed at all, without reference to a 
future state of being. If man was left to 
suppose that this life was all, how could he 
possibly choose God for his portion, and 
repose an unshaken confidence in him, as 
he now may do, in the prospect of an eter- 
nal existence ? This life is designed to pre- 
pare men for another ; and one part of the 



KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUTURE. 123 

'preparation for heaven consists in antici- 
pating it and dwelling upon it by faith." 

" Yes, and how very unhappy we should 
be," said Fanny, " if we did not know what 
was to become of us after this life ! — if we 
saw people dying every day, and did not 
know whether that was the end of them, or 
whether they were alive in another world ! " 

" Yes, the natural result of such a state of 
things would be to produce the resolution, 
let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. 
There is, therefore, no point on which 
knowledge was more desirable to man than 
on the future ; and the doctrine of the soul's 
immortality, which was first taught explic- 
itly by Jesus Christ, forms one of the glories 
of his system." 

" You told us, mother," observed James, 
"that some of the ancients — Plato and Cicero 
especially, I remember — wished to believe in 
the immortality of the soul, and tried to find 
arguments to prove it. I wonder what proofs 
they did find." 

"Some of them were flimsy enough. 



124 THE GUIDING STAR. 

Cicero's first argument is, that the gods 
were once men, and from their having be- 
come immortal, we may hope for the like 
good fortune. But another argument of his 
has more force : he says, we may hope that 
the soul is immortal, because there is a uni- 
versal desire in the human soul for immor- 
tality — a reaching towards it, and anticipa- 
tion of it." 

"Do you think that is true, mother? I 
mean, do you think that men generally — 
those who have no hope of heaven — would 
be sorry to find that death would be the end 
of them?" 

"I think they would, because men gener- 
ally have a sort of hope that they shall 
finally get to heaven ; and nothing but abso- 
lute despair of this would probably make 
them prefer the idea of annihilation." 

"Then I must be different from other 
people, for there does not seem to me to be 
anything terrible in the idea of annihila- 
tion," said James. 



KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUTURE. 125 

His mother seemed to hesitate, but finally- 
made no reply to this observation. 

"How curious it would be," said Fanny, 
" if we could look into the minds of some of 
those old philosophers, and see exactly what 
they thought and how they felt ! " 

"Here is a passage which I will read to 
you," replied her mother, " which will show 
you how one of them thought and felt. 

" <Alas ! the tender herbs and flowering tribes, 
Though crushed by winter's unrelenting hand, 
Revive and rise when vernal zephyrs call ; 
But we, the brave, the mighty and the wise, 
Bloom, flourish, fade and fall, and then succeeds 
A long, long, silent, dark, oblivious sleep, — 
A sleep which no propitious power dispels, 
Nor changing seasons nor revolving years.' " 

" What a mournful sound that has ! " said 
Fanny. 

"Yes," replied her mother, "and not less 
so are the words which fell from the lips of 
the wise and good Socrates, just before his 
death. c I am going out of the world, and 
you are to continue in it; but which of us 



126 THE GUIDING STAR. 

hath the better part, is known only to the 
gods.' " 

" How I wish he could have known all 
that we know ! " said Fanny. 

"This state of doubt, or one of absolute 
despair, must have been our state," said her 
mother, "unless God had made to us a rev- 
elation of the future, as he has done in the 
Bible. You perceive, then, that the Bible an- 
swers to the wants of man in this respect, — 
that it gives him a knowledge of the future. 
But do the revelations it makes concerning 
the future harmonize with the character of 
God himself? and do the rewards promised 
to right-doing meet the desires and capacities 
of the soul ? — because this, too, we might 
expect, if the Bible is from God." 

As neither of the children replied, their 
mother continued : 

"I should not have given you two ques- 
tions at once. You know we are taught in 
the Scriptures, that eternal happiness will 
be the portion of the righteous, and eternal 
misery the portion of the wicked. Is this 



KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUTURE. 127 

in accordance with what we should expect 
from a holy and righteous God ] " 

"Yes, mother, I should think so, — of 
course," answered James. 

"And it is evidently only carrying out 
what he has begun, in the present life," 
said his mother ; " only that, as I remarked 
before, God does not fully manifest his dis- 
pleasure against sin, or his approbation of 
goodness, in this world, because the present 
is a state of trial. Another thing we might 
expect is, that the rewards promised to obe- 
dience should be suited to the wants and 
capacities of the soul, and such as would 
secure its highest bliss. Is this so ? " 

11 Yes, mother, I suppose it is." 

u I cannot expect you to speak with much 
readiness or assurance on this point," ob- 
served his mother, " because, alas! neither 
of you know, by experience, anything of the 
nature of these rewards. But the man who 
has tasted the exalted bliss of communion 
with God, and of a beginning likeness to 

Him, knows that this is that for which his 
12 



128 ' THE GUIDING STAR. 

soul was made, and the only portion it is 
capable of enjoying." 

c * But other people — I mean people who 
are not Christians — cannot know that," said 
James. 

" Very well; but that is their own fault," 
replied his mother. " They might know it, 
by making trial of this source of happiness. 
And all men have one kind of evidence on 
the subject, — what may be called a nega- 
tive evidence. They all know that the 
enjoyments they are able to find in this 
world are not able to make them happy. 
So that, if the Bible had promised, as the 
Koran of Mahomet does, only a continua- 
tion of the same kind of pleasures that are 
to be found in this world, men would have 
reason to know that it was not from God, as 
they would feel that such a portion could not 
satisfy them." 

"Do you think, mother, that men are so 
dissatisfied with this life?" asked Fanny. 
"I mean, those men who have plenty of 
things to enjoy." 



KNOWLEDGE OP THE FUTURE. 129 

"I not only think it, my dear, — I know it. 
There is abundant evidence on this point. 
In the course of a revival of religion, when 
men are awakened by the spirit of God, and 
led to speak out candidly what they feel, 
they often confess that they have never 
known true happiness. And hundreds of 
others have made the same confession on 
their death-beds, when it was too late for 
them to make trial of any new source of 
happiness. I suppose it seems to you as if 
there was a great deal to be enjoyed in the 
world." 

"Yes, mother, it does seem so to me," 
said Fanny. 

" But, have you ever been perfectly hap- 
py 7 Would you be willing to live on for- 
ever, just the same sort of life you are living 
now, enjoying just as much as you do now, 
and no more?" 

"No, mother, I do not think I should. 
But, then, I expect a great many new en- 
joyments, as I grow older." 

"You will have new enjoyments, un- 



130 THE GUIDING STAR. 

doubtedly, if your life is spared ; but you 
will have also new sorrows, and your enjoy- 
ments will be mingled with alloys and dis- 
appointments, just as they are now. Then, 
by the time you have reached middle age, 
you will have made trial of most kinds of 
enjoyments, so that nothing new will remain 
for you to try ; and you will then have the 
same feeling, only more strongly, which you 
just now expressed, that you would not be 
willing to live on so forever. And if you 
should be spared to a still greater age, this 
weariness and disgust of life will increase 
upon you, and you will have as firm a con- 
viction, probably, as any of the rest of the 
world, that your soul was not made to be 
satisfied with earthly good." 

" But it does not seem as if the people we 
meet every day felt so unhappy and dissat- 
isfied as you say, mother," replied Fanny. 
" I am sure people seem very merry." 

" Many of the people, most of the people, 
you see every day," answered her mother, 
"are Christians, and have higher sources of 



KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUTURE. 131 

happiness than this world can afford. And 
men of the world do not expose their feel- 
ings of dissatisfaction to others — least of all 
do they carry them in their faces so plainly 
that a little girl can read them." 

"Some of them do, though, I think," said 
James ; "I should not have made the same 
remark Fanny did, from my observation of 
men." 

"But it seems strange," resumed Fanny, 
" that, if men feel so, they do not make trial 
of religion." 

"I will answer you in the words of a 
great poet," said her mother. "Words- 
worth says : 

6 'T is an easy thing 
Earth to despise; but to converse with heaven — 
That is not easy.' 
i 

It is one thing to be sick of the world, and 
another thing to have a heart fitted for the 
high and holy joys of the redeemed. A man 
who has passed thirty or forty or fifty years 

in the pursuit of sinful pleasures, and the 
12* 



132 THE GUIDING STAR. 

indulgence of sinful passions, cannot, at will, 
elevate himself from the dust, and begin to 
relish the pure and holy joy of communion 
with God. Most miserable is the state of a 
man wearied and sated with earth, and yet 
unfitted for heaven. But we have wan- 
dered a little from our subject. We have 
seen that the Bible supplies man's wants as 
far as a clearer knowledge of the future is 
concerned. Next Sabbath we will inquire 
whether it reveals any way in which he 
may obtain the pardon of sin." 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE BIBLE BEVEALS TO MAN THE ONLY WAY IN WHICH 
HE MAY SECUBE THE PABDON OF SIN. 

"It seems to me, mother," said James, 
"that we have come now to the strongest 
argument we have had, to prove that the 
Bible is from God; because men might have 
known or invented something, perhaps, 
about God, or about the future, but they 
never could have found out anything about 
being saved by Jesus Christ, if it had not 
been revealed in the Bible." 

"'You are right, my son. And if the 
Bible had met every other test, yet if it had 
failed to meet and provide for this one great 
want of man, it would have lacked an essen- 
tial feature ; it never could have sustained 
its claim to be a revelation from God." 

"It seems strange," said Fanny, "that 
God should have waited so long before he 



134 THE GUIDING STAR. 

sent Christ ; only think — four thousand 
years ! and how many people died without 
knowing anything about him ! " 

" It may seem strange to us, blind and 
ignorant creatures as we are 3 and indeed 
many of God's dealings must seem so; but 
we should never forget that he has infinitely 
wise reasons for all that he does. In this 
instance the Bible expressly assures us of 
the fact ; do you know the passage to which 
I allude?" 

After a moment's thought, James and 
Fanny replied in the negative. 

" You will find it in Gal. 4 : 4, — l When 
the fulness of the time was come : God sent 
forth his Son.' And again in Romans, — 'For 
when we were yet without strength, in due 
time Christ died for the ungodly.' " 

" How many times I have read and heard 
those verses, without thinking about them!" 
said Fanny. 

" Although God may have had many rea- 
sons which we cannot discover for delaying 
the coming of Christ so long, yet there is 



KNOWLEDGE OF PARDON. 135 

one very important reason which we can 
see." 

" What is that, mother?" asked James. 

"It was, that the world might be pre- 
pared to receive him when he should come. 
Do you know in what this preparation con- 
sisted?" 

Fanny at once said, no. James hesitated. 
"I cannot think, mother, — was the world 
growing any better ? " he asked, doubt- 
fully. 

" On the contrary, it was growing worse; 
and if it had been growing better, that would 
have been no preparation for Christ's com- 
ing." 

"Why, mother!" exclaimed Fanny; "I 
do not understand you at all." 

"I should have said, perhaps, that it could 
not grow radically better, without a Saviour; 
and any improvement in outward things, 
merely, would only have puffed men up 
with pride, and made them feel that they 
did not need a Saviour Now, God's de- 



136 THE GUIDING STAK. 

sign, in making them wait four thousand 
years, was to let them find out their need." 

"O!" said Fanny, as if a new light had 
dawned upon her. "If Christ had come 
soon after the fall, it might have been said 
that there was no need of him ; that science 
and philosophy were able to regenerate 
men; that they were capable of guiding 
and governing themselves, by the aid of rea- 
son; and that the fall had not left man 
wholly destitute of goodness, nor wholly 
dependent on God for salvation. It was, 
therefore, necessary that all human inven- 
tions and systems for saving men should be 
thoroughly tried, and found wanting, so 
that mankind might feel their need of a 
Divine Redeemer.' 7 

"I believe I always had a sort of notion," 
said James, "that God was waiting for the 
world to grow better." 

" But it did not grow any better, you see," 
replied his mother. "Were the Pharisees in 
Christ's time, whom he compares to c whited 
sepulchres, full of dead men's bones, and all 



KNOWLEDGE OF PARDON. 137 

uncleanness,' and whom John calls a c gen- 
eration of vipers/ — were they any better 
than their fathers had been ? And as to the 
heathen nations, we may find an account 
of what they were ; in the first chapter of 
Romans." 

"Well, mother," said James, "did it do 
any good for God to wait so long? — I mean, 
did people learn what he meant they should 
about their need of a Saviour 1 " 

"If they did not, it was because they were 
incapable of learning from experience," re- 
plied his mother. "The philosophers tried 
all their systems, one after another, in vain, 
and were finally obliged to confess that their 
teachings, and the inducements they were 
able to hold out to the practice of virtue, 
were wholly insufficient to restrain the law- 
less appetites and passions of the multitude. 
They could not help seeing the wide-spread 
corruption of human nature ; but they could 
not account for it, or devise a remedy. But 
there was another question, and that is the 
one we have to consider now, — not only 



138 THE GUIDING STAE, 

how sin could be prevented or checked; but 
how past sins could be forgiven. This ques- 
tion engaged the attention of some of the 
wisest of the Greek philosophers, and they 
could find no solution to it. Plato declared 
that it was impossible for a just God to par- 
don sin. Socrates, however, expressed a 
hope that God would one day send a man 
instructed by himself, who should reveal to 
the world that most interesting of all mys- 
teries — how he will pardon sin. 7 ' 

" How remarkable ! " said James. 

" What a pity he could not have known 
about Christ!" said Fanny. "But, after 
all, mother, Socrates and Plato were not to 
blame for not knowing anything about 
Christ ; — how could they possibly ? " 

"Certainly, they were not to blame. That 
is the very thing we are saying ; that a rev- 
elation was necessary ', and Christ's coming 
in the flesh was necessary, because human 
reason could not, by any possibility, have 
devised or invented such a way of escape. 
Even if the wonderful and awful plan of 



KNOWLEDGE OF PARDON. 139 

salvation by God himself becoming a sacri- 
fice had occurred to Socrates or Plato, — 
though it never could have occurred to him, 
— yet even, I say, if it had, it would have 
done him no good, and would have amounted 
to nothing, so long as he did not know that 
God actually had determined to save men in 
that way." 

" Poor Socrates ! what could he do, then ? JJ 
asked Fanny. 

" He could only live according to the light 
which he had ; and this, there is some rea- 
son to believe, he did. And if he ' feared 
God and worked righteousness,' he was ac- 
cepted of him." 

"How astonished he would have been, 
if he could have known all that we 
know ! " 

" Yes, the knowledge which the youngest 
Sabbath-school scholar has would have 
filled many of those old philosophers with 
wonder, and delight, and gratitude. Well 
might our Saviour say that many prophets 
and righteous men have desired to see the 
13 



140 THE GUIDING STAR. 

things which we see, and have not seen 
them ! And well might he tell us that it 
will be more tolerable for Sodom and Go- 
morrah, in the day of judgment, than for us, 
if we abuse such privileges ! " 

" Mother," said James, after a while, 
" how do you suppose it happened that so 
many heathen nations have thought that 
God would be pleased with sacrifices ? " 

" It would take a long time to answer 
that question fully," replied his mother, 
"and the answer would involve some points 
you cannot understand. I suppose that the 
notion spread, in part, from traditions of 
what was practised among the Jews. God 
himself instituted sacrifices among them, as 
types of Christ, the great sacrifice who was 
to be offered in due time ; and from them 
the custom spread into surrounding nations. 
Then the sense of sin, and of the desert of 
punishment, was found everywhere ; and as 
the minds of men, under the lashings of con- 
science, were always at work on the ques- 
tion how God could be propitiated, the idea 



KNOWLEDGE OF PARDON. 141 

of a sacrifice of something valuable to them 
was very likely to arise. A modern Eng- 
lish writer, a profound thinker, has sug- 
gested that the origin of sacrifices lies deeper 
yet, and that there is in the human mind an 
intuitive perception of the truth, that the for- 
feiture of life is the penalty due to trans- 
gression. But as man had no right to take 
his own life, he might be led to offer that of 
some animal as a substitute." 

"After all, mother," said Fanny, hesitat- 
ingly, "it does not seem as if God need have 
given his own Son ; — could not men have 
been saved in some easier way?" 

"That is a question, my child, which 
indicates the low and inadequate views of 
sin common to the unrenewed heart. Yes ; 
God might have pardoned sin on easier 
terms, if he could have broken his word, 
sullied his holiness, trampled on his justice, 
abrogated his law, — in a word, if he could 
have ceased to be God. Having once given 
a law, and appended to it the awful penalty, 
The soul that sinneth, it shall die, he could 



142 THE GUIDING STAR. 

do no otherwise than he has done ; he could 
reconcile justice with mercy in no less costly- 
way. No man could have stepped forth as 
mediator between God and his rebellious 
creatures, for every man is himself stained 
with sin; no angel could have made the 
required atonement, for angels belonged to 
a different race, — angels could render no 
more than the obedience required of them ; — 
an angel might have sacrificed himself for 
men, but where would have been the evi- 
dence of God's regard to the majesty of his 
insulted law furnished by the death of 
Christ ?" 

There was a pause of some length, which 
neither of the children seemed inclined to 
break. At length their mother resumed : 

" There is one point further to be consid- 
ered, in relation to this subject. We have 
seen that there is in man a universal sense 
of the need of pardon, flowing from the uni- 
versal consciousness of guilt. This con- 
sciousness was like a wound festering in 
the hearts of men, galling and chafing them, 



KNOWLEDGE OP PARDON. 143 

/ 

inflicting perpetual misery, and leading to 
the practice of penances and sacrifices, with 
a view to propitiate their Creator. From 
the same source, aided, perhaps, by tradi- 
tions handed down from the earliest times, 
sprang a belief, not very definite, but still 
actual, that a deliverer sent by God would 
one day appear, and become the Saviour 
of the world. Now, the Bible contains an 
account of such a Deliverer, who has ap- 
peared, and made atonement for the sins 
of men. It invites men to believe in him 
as a Redeemer, and assures those who do, 
that, in so doing, they shall find the burden 
of guilt removed, and the fear of God's 
wrath dispelled. It becomes a question, 
then, of no little interest, — Do these effects 
actually follow faith in Christ ? For, if this 
way of pardon is one provided by God, 
they ought to follow. Do you not see 
this?" 

"O, yes, mother, — perfectly," replied 
James. 

"And you know, too, enough of the ex- 
13* 



144 THE GUIDING STAR. 

perience of Christians, from what you have 
heard and read, to know that these effects 
always do follow faith in Christ. The 
more a man has suffered from anxiety, 
remorse and apprehension, on account of 
sin, the more sensible and ravishing will 
be his joy, when he feels that his sins are 
pardoned. As the excellent Leighton says, 
"That burden taken off, the soul can go 
light; yea, can leap and dance under all 
other burdens. O, how it feels itself nim- 
ble, as a man eased of a load that he was 
even fainting under ! O, how sweet a bur- 
den, instead of this, is that engagement of 
obedience and love to him as our Redeemer, 
which is all he lays upon us ! ' 

"But we must leave the subject here. 
The topic for our next conversation will 
be, Does the Gospel supply those motives 
and helps to right-doing, — in other words, 
those means of regeneration, — which man 
needs..? H 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE GOSPEL FURNISHES THOSE AIDS WHICH MAN NEEDS 
TO RESTORE HIM TO THE LIKENESS OF GOD. 

" Mother," said Fanny, as they seated 
themselves for conversation on the succeed- 
ing Sabbath evening, " will you let me read 
you a piece of poetry, before we begin to 
talk? It is about the subject of our last 
conversation, and I found it in Campbell's 
Poems." 

" Yes, my dear; I should like to hear it." 

Fanny read as follows : — 

" But Heaven had gifts for sinful men, 
I little knew or thought of then ; 
And on my night of fear and sin 
A ray of peace at last broke in, — 
A "blessed, bright, benignant ray, 
The herald of eternal day. 
In this dark bondage as I sate, 
Wrapt up in my approaching fate, 



146 THE GUIDING STAE. 

A message reached me, — whence or how, 
I knew not then, I know not now ; 
Unless some angel, in his flight, 
Touched by my dark and piteous plight, 
Transgressed the bounds he was assigned, 
And dropped it on my sullen mind. 
But there it was, as clear and bright 
As if transcribed in lines of light. 
It fixed and filled my inward eye, 
And made my heart run o'er with joy ; — 
That blessed truth, that heavenly strain, 
My soul and it ne 'er part again : 
I '11 spend on it my latest breath, 
And hug it in the arms of death ; 
I' 11 bear it to the judgment seat, 
And cast it down at Jesus' feet ; 
It then shall be my only plea, 
For oh ! it tells my Judge that he 
Upon the cross vouchsafed to die, 
To save from hell such worms as I ! " 

"They are very forcible and beautiful 
lines," said her mother. " How I wish, my 
dear Fanny, that you — that both of you — 
could utter them from the heart, and as 
descriptive of your own experience ! " 

" How I wish so too ! " thought Fanny; 
but she did not utter the wish. Even the 



SUPPLIES THE NEEDED AIDS. 147 

presence of James was a sufficient restraint 
to prevent her from expressing the feeling to 
which, perhaps, she would have given utter- 
ance, had she been alone with her mother. 
At length she said, — 

" I have tried to think about our subject 
to-day, mother, but I could not make out 
anything." 

" Perhaps I can help you, by placing the 
question to be thought of in a somewhat 
clearer light,' 7 replied her mother. "You 
perceive that man, as a guilty creature, — 
that is, a creature having sinned, and so con- 
tracted guilt, — needed pardon for the past. 
Next, as a depraved creature, — that is, a 
creature possessing inclinations to evil, — he 
needed something for the future ; some new 
aids and helps to goodness; some security 
that he should not commit the same sins 
again. For, suppose that God should now 
declare to you that all your past offences 
were cancelled, do you not see that, unless 
a change were wrought in you, you would 
immediately contract new guilt, by repeat- 



148 THE GUIDING STAR. 

ing the same sins for which you had been 
pardoned ? " 

James and Fanny both replied in the 
affirmative. Some years before, they would 
have hesitated to do this, and would have 
thought that by " trying very hard" they 
might succeed in obeying the law of God. 
But in the repeated trials they had already 
made, they had gained too sad an experience 
of their own weakness, to leave any room 
for hesitation now. 

"It is evident, then," continued their 
mother, "that the Bible, if it is to do 
anything effectual for man, must provide 
some remedy for this depravity of his na- 
ture, — some new motives, or aids, or both, to 
the practice of what is right. The question, 
then, is, does the Bible furnish any such 
motives or aids?" 

" I have thought of one thing," said 
James. — "If there could be no certain 
knowledge of a future state, and of heaven 
and hell, without the Bible, as you showed 
us the other day, then there could be no 



SUPPLIES THE NEEDED AIDS. 149 

motives to do right, except those drawn 
from the present life." 

"I might have thought of that, if I had 
not been very stupid," observed Fanny. 

" That is a correct inference, James," re- 
plied his mother. "What were the only 
motives which the ancient heathen had to 
the practice of virtue V 

u Why, I suppose they had those which 
you were speaking of, two or three evenings 
ago, — their consciences reproved them, and 
made them feel unhappy when they did 
wrong; — and then they often found, by ex- 
perience, that they were punished in other 
ways." 

"Very well. But these motives, as we 
have seen, were wholly insufficient to re- 
strain the sinful inclinations and boisterous 
passions of men. Now, the Bible comes 
in and tells them that these punishments 
which they experience in the providence 
of God for wrong-doing are only introduc- 
tory to far severer punishments, which they 
will receive in the next world, if they per- 



150 THE GUIDING STAR. 

sist in the same course. It also tells them 
that the happiness they experience as a con- 
sequence of right-doing will be greatly in- 
creased and rendered perpetual in the life 
to come, if they persevere in right-doing. 
Now, do you not see that the motives to 
do right, and avoid doing wrong, are far 
stronger than they were before ?" 

" O, yes," said Fanny, "much stronger." 

"As much so," added James, "as eter- 
nity is longer than time." 

"But, after all, if the Bible had left the 
matter here, do you suppose that men gen- 
erally would have been allured to practise 
virtue, and abstain from vice?" 

" No, mother, I don't think they would ; 
for, even now, they are not. It seems as if 
hardly anybody believed the Bible, for they 
go on to sin just the same as if there were 
no heaven and no hell." 

" Yes, they do ; — and what do you think 
is the cause?" 

"I suppose because they have such wicked 
hearts." 



SUPPLIES THE NEEDED AIDS. 151 

"And does a man's belief that he will be 
punished for continuing in a certain course 
have any tendency to change his heart, that 
is, to make him cease to love that course?" 

" Not at all, it seems to me." 

" Then it is evident that something more 
is still wanted than the revelation of a future 
state of rewards and punishments. The 
utmost that could be effected by threaten- 
ings and promises would be a change of the 
outward conduct ; and even this is wrought 
but in a few instances. Men are so in love 
with sin that they will not give it up, even 
when they know that it will expose them to 
punishment. But, to work a change in the 
heart, in the inward disposition, evidently 
something is required very different from 
rewards and punishments. There are but 
two ways in which we can suppose a 
change in the disposition and state of 
the affections to be accomplished : one is 
by the presentation of some new truths, 
addressed to the affections and suited to act 
upon them ; the other, by a direct acting of 
14 



152 THE GUIDING STAR. 

Almighty power upon them, so as to trans- 
form them, and make them the opposite of 
what they were before. Now, both these 
methods God employs, and has revealed both 
in the Scriptures. Do you know to what I 
refer?" 

" By the new truths, I suppose you 
mean the doctrine of an atonement through 
Christ." 

" Yes, that is what I mean. By reveal- 
ing the way of atonement through Christ, 
God presents himself to his creatures in a 
new attitude, — a new relation. Instead of 
appealing to their hopes and fears, — as he 
does in his system of retributions, — he ap- 
peals directly to their affections. He gives 
them a proof of his love, — the greatest he 
could have given, — and, in so doing, pre- 
sents the strongest claim to their love in 
return. He takes a course' which, if his 
creatures have one particle of ingenuous- 
ness of feeling, and of gratitude, must break 
their hearts, — must lead them to his feet like 
penitent prodigals. There is nothing else 



SUPPLIES THE NEEDED AIDS. 153 

that he could do. — even he, the omnipotent 
Jehovah, — that would give him anything 
like such powerful claims to their love, and 
gratitude, and obedience, as this does. If 
this does not move them, nothing can. If 
this plan for their recovery fails, nothing 
would succeed. The motives to holiness 
and obedience drawn from the cross of 
Christ are infinitely the strongest which it 
is possible to conceive of, and evidently the 
strongest that are at the disposal of God 
himself. Do you not see this ?" 

"Yes, mother," replied Fanny, with a 
faltering voice. She felt that she had disre- 
garded all these obligations. 

" But this is not all that God has done, in 
the way of providing motives and helps to 
goodness," continued her mother. "Even 
this would not have been sufficient alone. 
By the power of his Spirit he operates di- 
rectly upon the hearts of men, transforming 
them into the image of his dear Son. He 
offers them the aids of this Spirit so long as 
they remain in the world : offers him to 



154 THE GUIDING STAE. 

them as an Enlightener, to instruct their 
ignorance; as a Sanctifier, to cleanse them 
from pollution; and as a Comforter, to re- 
lieve them in distress. You see, then, that 
the Bible offers not only motives to virtue 
stronger than any others, but aids in the 
acquisition of it — aids which our sinfulness 
renders indispensable. In both these fea- 
tures, — the doctrine of Christ, and the doc- 
trine of the Holy Spirit, — it is absolutely 
and essentially different from every system 
of human invention. 

" And this difference is everything. If 
other religious systems had equalled Chris- 
tianity in the purity of their precepts, and 
in the amount of light they were able to 
throw on the character of God and the des- 
tiny of man, yet, so long as they could pro- 
vide no way of pardon for the guilty, and 
no means of regeneration for the spiritually 
dead, they would have been impotent and 
useless. And therefore Augustine said, 'I 
find in the writings of Plato and Cicero, 
and other philosophers, many eloquent and 



SUPPLIES THE NEEDED AIDS. 155 

profound sayings; but nowhere do I find 
this saying, 'Come unto me, all ye that labor 
and are heavy-laden, and I will give you 
rest.'' And now do you not see that God 
has provided everything necessary to secure 
man's salvation?" 

James replied "Yes:" but Fanny hesi- 
tated. She wished to say something like this, 
— that she did not find the Gospel sufficient 
for her wants, since her heart remained un- 
changed, in spite of all that God had done. 
Her mother understood, from her broken 
words, and the tears that filled her eyes, 
what she would have said, and replied to it. 
"I do not say that God will force any man 
to be saved ; — I say that he has made pro- 
vision for the salvation of every man, but 
it rests with each individual whether he 
will accept those provisions or not. He sees 
man lying in utter weakness and helpless- 
ness, unable to originate in himself one right 
thought or purpose, and he comes and invites 
him to enter into union with Christ, — to re- 
ceive Christ as his life, and from him to 
14* 



156 THE GUIDING STAR. 

receive those hourly supplies of grace he 
needs. If the sinner rejects this offer, noth- 
ing more can be done for him. But con- 
sider what sin is shown in the rejection 
of such gracious offers. Here is a passage 
which I had marked to read to you: — 
1 Either the human heart is incapable, from 
its nature, of feeling love, or that man will 
feel it who, enveloped in ignominy as a gar- 
ment, has seen the God of glory descending 
even to him, to seek him in the depths of his 
disgrace ; who, from the gloom and sorrow 
in which his conscience kept him plunged, 
has seen himself transported into a region 
of light and happiness : who, in respect to 
himself, has seen verified that amazing lan- 
guage of the prophet, "In all their afflic- 
tions he was afflicted;" who has seen, — oh 
mystery ! oh miracle ! — his God travelling 
by his side in the rugged path of life, — nay, 
voluntarily assuming the burden which was 
crushing him, — a God humbled, — a God 
weeping, — a God anguished, — a God dy- 
ing ! ' 



SUPPLIES THE NEEDED AIDS. 157 

" But we must bring our conversation to a 
close, though the subject is by no means 
exhausted. I had intended to refer to the 
argument from experience, under this head, 
as I did under the last ; but we must post- 
pone it." 

11 What will be our next subject, mother V* 
asked James. "I believe we have gone 
through the plan you read to us." 

M Yes, but there are still some points to be 
considered, which we will take up in our 
next conversation." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE EFFECTS OF THE GOSPEL ON THE HEARTS OF MEN 
PROVE IT TO BE FROM GOD. 

"What did you mean, mother, by the 
argument from experience, which you spoke 
of just at the close of our last conversa- 
tion ? " asked Fanny. 

"I told you that man, as a fallen being, 
had two wants, — the want of pardon, and 
the want of regeneration, — that is, of a 
change of heart — of being made holy. 
We saw that the Gospel provides a mode 
of pardon ; and that this mode was found, 
experimentally, to answer the purpose for 
which it was contrived, — that is, persons 
who tried it found a sense of pardon im- 
parted to them, and the fear of punishment 
taken away. Now, is the same thing true 
in relation to the other particular? Do 
those persons who make trial of the Gospel 



EFFECTS ON THE HEART. 159 

actually find the love of sin taken away, 
and a new principle of holiness imparted? 
Do they find that the efforts against sinful 
habits, which, when made in their own 
strength, had proved so unavailable, are 
successful when made in reliance on the 
promised aid of the Holy Spirit 1 " 

" I suppose they do," replied Fanny. 

" This is an argument which, to the 
heart of the Christian, is so convincing, that 
it supersedes every other. When a man 
feels that he daily receives strength to over- 
come temptation and to bear trial ; when he 
finds himself daily drawn nearer to God, in 
the use of the means pointed out by the 
Bible ; when he receives answers to prayer, 
and experiences the truth of the promises, 
— he has a kind of evidence for the truth of 
the Gospel, superior to every other." 

"But a person might perhaps be de- 
ceived," said James; "he might imagine 
that he had felt such and such things, when 
he had not." 

" It is true that persons sometimes delude 



160 THE GUIDING STAR. 

themselves with imagining that they have 
experienced what they have not ; but it is 
also true that a man may have experiences 
of such a nature, and so often and distinctly 
repeated, that he cannot doubt in relation to 
them, any more than he can doubt of his 
own existence. It is the case with many 
Christians, that, at first, and, perhaps, for 
some time after their hearts are renewed, 
they have many doubts of the genuineness 
of their own feelings, — they fear they may 
have mistaken their own fancies for true 
religious experiences; but as they go on, 
day after day, receiving fuller manifesta- 
tions of God's love, and richer supplies of 
his grace, and more marked answers to 
prayer, their confidence strengthens, and, at 
last, reaches the point of absolute convic- 
tion." 

"But," said Fanny, hesitatingly, "if 
they doubt, — it seems to me that it is 
against religion, if they doubt at all." 

" I do not mean that they doubt the truth 
of religion, but they doubt whether they 



EFFECTS ON THE HEART. 161 

really possess it : and this is nothing against 
the truth of religion; for, suppose a man 
laboring under a severe disease has taken 
a medicine, for the first time, which pro- 
fesses to be, and which really is, a specific 
for that disease. But the medicine does not 
profess to effect a complete cure at once, — 
it requires repeated applications to do this. 
Now, the individual in question, from taking 
too small a portion of the medicine, or from 
the extreme virulence of his disease, may 
begin to experience its salutary effects very 
slowly, — so much so that he may doubt, for 
a time, whether he is receiving any benefit 
or not. Yet, as day by day he gains new 
vigor and elasticity, receives new strength 
and comfort, finds one painful symptom 
after another disappearing, and one mark 
of health after another returning, his confi- 
dence in the remedy may, — nay, must, in- 
crease, till it becomes entire and absolute. 
Is not this plain?" 

" Yes, mother, very plain," replied Fanny. 

"But then, mother," said James, "this 



162 THE GUIDING STAR. 

may be very good kind of proof for the man 
himself, but it could not be for other people." 

"Not so good for other people, I admit," 
replied his mother; "but, certainly, other 
people, who witnessed these effects, and 
had the man's own testimony that they 
were attributable to the medicine and noth- 
ing else, would be obliged to believe him, 
unless they had some valid objections 
against his testimony ; and, in the case sup- 
posed, they naturally loould believe him. 
Much more would they do so, if, instead of 
one case of cure effected by the medicine in 
question, they had witnessed hundreds and 
thousands, — nay, had seen whole com- 
munities and nations of sick people restored 
to health by its means." 

"But, mother," said Fanny, "it does not 
seem — we have never seen such wonderful 
effects produced by religion as you describe." 

"No, you have not seen its effects on 
nations, because you live in the midst of a 
nominally Christian nation, where the indi- 
rect effects of Christianity are widely dif- 



EFFECTS ON THE HEART. 163 

fused, and have been for centuries. To 
witness these effects, you must have lived 
in the days of the Apostles and early Chris- 
tians; or you must have lived for twenty 
years with some of our missionaries in the 
Sandwich Islands, or in South Africa. But 
you have read many of their accounts of 
the changes wrought by Christianity among 
those degraded heathen, and know that 
nothing could be more wonderful. And, 
still further, you have yourselves witnessed, 
in single cases, the most surprising effects 
wrought by the power of religion." 

"Have we? — what cases do you mean, 
mother?" asked Fanny. "O, I guess I 
know: are you not thinking of old Wil- 
liams?" 

" Yes, of him among others." 

"Well, certainly, his case is as strong a 
one as could be," said James. "I remem- 
ber he used to swear dreadfully every time 
he opened his mouth, so that I used to 
wonder, sometimes, he did not fall down 
dead." 

15 



164 THE GUIDING STAE. 

"Yes, and you know he was always 
drunk, and used to treat his wife and chil- 
dren dreadfully," said Fanny. " Don't you 
remember the time we met his little Sarah, 
crying so terribly, with her face all bloody, 
and her arm black and blue with the bruises 
he had given her?" 

"Yes, I remember it," replied James; 
"and now he seems to be one of the very 
best men in the world. He is so gentle, 
and kind, and humble, that you never 
would know him to be the same man." 

"Yes," said Fanny, "I like to have him 
come here to saw wood ; — he almost 
always says something to me about reli- 
gion, in such a kind, pleasant way, that I 
like to hear him." 

"Do you suppose," inquired her mother, 
" that anything beside the Gospel could 
have wrought such a change in him?" 

" No, mother, I think not; and I know he 
thinks so too." 

"There is still another thing which may 
be said in reply to your remark, James, — 



EFFECTS ON THE HEART. 165 

that this kind of proof is good only for 
Christians themselves. It is a kind of 
proof which may become good for all who 
will make trial of it, and which the Bible 
itself invites all men to bring to the test of 
experience. In the case of the medicine I 
supposed a while ago, a man who should 
refuse to make trial of it would have no 
right to question the reality of its effect on 
others. If he doubts of its efficacy, let him 
try it ; and then, if it does him no good, he 
may pronounce it worthless. But no one 
— no, not one — can be found, who has 
made this trial of the Gospel way of salva- 
tion, and has found it to fail. 

"On the contrary, every person who has 
put it to this test will say, l I am myself a 
witness of the truth of Christianity. When 
I began to study the Bible candidly and 
prayerfully, I found described there every 
symptom of my spiritual malady. I had 
learned, by repeated experience, that I was 
wholly incapable of restraining my own 
passions, of obeying my own convictions of 



166 THE GUIDING STAR. 

right, of acting in such a way as to secure 
my own happiness. There was a perpetual 
war in my soul, — a war between con- 
science, and reason, and my higher instincts, 
on the one hand, and my unruly desires, 
appetites, and passions, on the other. Be- 
sides, I bore about with me a sense of the 
displeasure of God, and of the entire moral 
distance between him and my soul, which 
effectually prevented any confidence in him, 
and made me regard him as a stern and 
angry Judge, rather than as a tender Father. 
Now, the Bible exactly described my case, 
and presented a remedy. It invited me to 
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and as- 
sured me that in thus believing I should 
find pardon, peace, and holiness. I accepted 
the invitation, and found the truth of these 
promises. My fears and remorse were van- 
quished, harmony was restored in my soul, 
and I have begun to realize that victory 
over sin, which I trust to experience more 
fully in this life, and perfectly in the life to 



EFFECTS ON THE HEART. 167 

"Now, my dear children, this is a test to 
which you, as well as others, are invited to 
subject the Bible. O, that you would be 
persuaded to do so at once ! " 

Fanny, whose nature was impressible, 
and whose feelings were easily excited, 
could not restrain, though she sought to 
conceal, her tears. James, however, ap- 
peared unaffected, and soon asked, 

"Is there any other point you were going 
to talk about this evening?" 

"Yes, there were others, but I shall be 
able only to glance at them. I wish you to 
understand that, in conversations like ours, 
many proofs must be passed over, which 
are not adapted to your capacities at pres- 
ent, but which you will appreciate when 
you are older. Many others we have but 
touched upon, which you will, some time or 
other, I hope, investigate more fully. On 
the subject of the adaptedness of Christian- 
ity to man, and its consequent adapted- 
ness to universal diffusion, much might be 
said ; but I wish to direct your attention, for 
15* 



168 THE GUIDING STAR. 

a few moments, to a part of the subject 
you are more capable of comprehending, — • 
namely, the character of Christ. Do you 
understand the nature of the proof to be 
drawn from this source ? " 

Fanny at once said, "No, not exactly;" 
and while James was considering whether 
he did or not, his mother went on : 

" Christ, you know, appeared as the 
Founder of Christianity. He is the very 
centre of the whole system. He is himself 
the Example and embodiment of its pre- 
cepts. He is the Mediator, who claims, by 
his death, to have reconciled God and man. 
He is the King, who is to govern the sub- 
jects he has redeemed from the bondage of 
sin. He is the Messiah, who answers to all 
the prophecies of the Old Testament. He is 
the Judge, who is to award eternal life to 
his followers, and to punish with everlast- 
ing destruction his incorrigible enemies. 
Thus he holds the most intimate relation to 
every part of the system. It must all stand 
or fall with him. Evidently, therefore, an 



EFFECTS ON THE HEART. 169 

examination of his character and conduct 
must constitute a very important branch of 
our proof." 

"Yes, mother, so I should think, 75 said 
James. "I am afraid we shall not have 
time to talk much about it this evening, it 
is so late now. I almost wish you would 
leave it, and take a whole evening for it." 

"Very well, my dear, I have no objec- 
tion; — let it be so." 



CHAPTER XV. 

CHARACTER AND CONDUCT OF CHRIST. — TESTIMONY OP 
INFIDELS. 

" Mother," said James, " I think I shall 
be more interested in our conversation to- 
night, because I have been reading the life 
of Mahomet, lately." 

"Yes, very likely. Mahomet, as the 
founder of a religious system, is very natu- 
rally brought into comparison with Christ ; 
and his character and conduct give us some 
notion of what we might expect from any 
mere man, who should claim to originate a 
religion adapted to the wants of mankind. 
But, after all, the pretensions of Mahomet 
were so inferior to those of Christ, that he 
had a far easier part to play, on the suppo- 
sition that both were impostors. Mahomet 
professed to be nothing more than a man, a 
mere prophet, to whom God had made a 
new revelation. Christ, on the other hand, 



CHRIST INFIDEL TESTIMONY. 171 

professed to be God, and yet man,— to unite 
in himself two natures, the union of which 
had never been heard of or conceived, and 
the very idea of whose union seemed to 
human reason incredible and contradictory. 
As a consequence of this double nature, he 
professed to be able to mediate between God 
and man, — to make atonement in his own 
person for the sins of the whole human race, 
and to become the author of eternal salva- 
tion to all who should believe. Consider 
how infinitely superior were these claims to 
those ever put forth by Mahomet, or any 
other impostor." 

"O yes; that is plain enough, though I 
never thought of it." 

" Then, what various offices he had to 
fill, and what numerous and seemingly in- 
compatible relations to sustain ! In the 
words of Wilson, an able English writer on 
this topic, — J He assumed the titles of the 
Saviour, the Redeemer, the great Prophet 
of the church, the King of Israel, the ap- 
pointed Judge of quick and dead. He per- 



172 THE GUIDING STAR. 

formed, moreover, miraculous works in 
support of his pretensions; he healed the 
sick, raised the dead, expelled demons, sus- 
pended the laws of nature, and exercised, in 
his own person, a creative power. Again, 
he assumed, as a consequence of all this, to 
be the Teacher of truth, the light of the 
world, the Expounder and Vindicator of the 
moral law, the authoritative Legislator of 
mankind. Notwithstanding these exalted 
pretensions, his office as Messiah involved 
the most apparently contradictory character- 
istics. It required him to be the Son of 
man; the servant and messenger of his 
heavenly Father ; subject to human infirm- 
ities and sorrows ; obedient to all the cere- 
monial requirements and moral injunctions 
of the Mosaic law ; — a man of sorrows and 
acquainted with grief. All this, therefore, 
our Lord professed himself to be.' " 

"How strange it seems to me," said 
Fanny, "that I should never have thought 
of these things myself! But that is because 
we begin to hear about Christ as soon as we 



CHRIST INFIDEL TESTIMONY. 173 

are born, almost ; and we get so used to it, 
that it seems like an old story. I wish the 
Bible could be as new to us as it is to the 
heathen ! " 

'•It would be always new to us, I sup- 
pose, if our hearts were right," said her 
mother. "You know the angels are repre- 
sented as always looking, with intense and 
unabated curiosity, into the great mystery 
of God's love to man. And, no doubt, the 
glorified spirits of the redeemed will find the 
theme always new, throughout the ages of 
eternity." 

"I never thought, before," said James, 
"how very different the claims and preten- 
sions of Christ were from those of any other 
person who ever lived." 

" Yes, and in acting out these various 
characters, and sustaining these relations, 
he was exposed to the view of men. He 
did not retire into a cave, out of the way of 
temptation, but his whole life was public. 
He shunned no opportunity of mingling 
with men; in the market-place, the syna- 



174 THE GUIDING STAK, 

gogue, the street, the desert, at the table, by 
the well, and on the mountain, he was ever 
ready to teach, to counsel and to warn. He 
was brought into the most various and the 
most trying circumstances ; subjected to 
want, suffering and ignominy, and yet 
tempted by urgent offers to make him a 
king ; he was visited and questioned by all 
the different religious sects among the Jews; 
he was brought before a Jewish council and 
a Roman governor; he was finally tried, 
condemned and executed, all in -public ; — 
yet never, for one moment, did he descend 
from the moral elevation which became the 
Son of God, and the friend and Redeemer 
of sinners. Never did he commit a single 
act which rendered him unworthy to be the 
example and model of the human race." 

"If Christ had been an impostor, he would 
have wished to keep more out of the way of 
people, I should think," said James; "for, 
of course, the more he was seen and known, 
the more chances there were of his being 
discovered to be one." 



CHRIST — INFIDEL TESTIMONY. 175 

"Yes, and, beside this, no impostor, no 
mere man who came with the pretensions 
of Christ, would have neglected the aid he 
might receive from outward pomp and splen- 
dor. He would have feared to be despised 
by the people, if he associated with them on 
terms of familiarity, and would have wished 
to surround himself at once with the pomp 
and parade of royalty. But there were 
many reasons why Jesus, being what he 
really was, should have chosen to occupy a 
poor and humble station. Can you think 
of any of them?" 

" I suppose one reason was, that he might 
set an example of humility and self-denial 
to his followers." 

"Yes; it was, as was everything else 
about him, an exemplification of his own 
precepts. He taught his disciples not to 
' labor for the meat that perisheth,' not to 
lay up for themselves c treasures on earth,' 
— to f take the lowest place, 5 to deny them- 
selves and c take up the cross.' He could 
not have added, i and follow me? unless he 
16 



176 THE GUIDING STAR. 

had preceded them in the same path. In 
fact, the value of Christ's example depended 
very greatly on his moving in a lowly 
sphere, practising the ordinary duties, and 
filling the common offices, of every-day life. 
But will you mention some of the virtues 
which shone conspicuous in our Saviour's 
character?" 

"I think there is nothing so wonderful as 
the forgiving temper he manifested," said 
Fanny, — "his praying for his enemies 
while they were putting him to such tor- 
ture ! " 

"Yes, and his meekness" said James, 
"when they struck him, and spit upon him. 
I do not see how he could bear that." 

" There are so many things to say, that I 
am puzzled which to mention first," said 
Fanny. 

"You might name his submission to the 
will of his Father ; his constancy and forti- 
tude ; his prayerfulness ; his compassion and 
benevolence, and many other traits; but these 
you can observe in your reading. One thing 



CHRIST — INFIDEL TESTIMONY. 177 

I wish you to notice, however, and that is, 
the way in which we arrive at the knowl- 
edge of our Lord's character. You will 
notice that no one of the Evangelists ap- 
pears to have formed the intention of draw- 
ing a perfect character, or, in fact, any char- 
acter at all. Neither of them ever calls our 
attention to any one of the excellent traits 
exhibited, or indulges himself in any re- 
marks whatever on the circumstances he 
details. Each one gives his simple narra- 
tive, sometimes so briefly as to be hardly 
intelligible without a reference to the others, 
evidently relating his facts with perfect hon- 
esty and unconcern, and leaving us to draw 
our own inferences. Without manifesting 
the least anxiety as to the impression they 
shall make, or seeming to be at all aware 
that they are relating anything extraordi- 
nary, they nevertheless give us a character 
absolutely without spot or blemish ; a char- 
acter in which the veriest malice can detect 
no stain or flaw; a character so lovely, so in- 
imitable, so dignified, so sublime, as to com- 



178 THE GUIDING STAR. 

prise, by universal consent, all the excel- 
lences and perfections of which human 
nature is susceptible, in a form the most 
engaging, tender and elevated." 

" Mother, I should think that even infidels 
would have to admit that the character of 
Christ is perfect," said Fanny. 

"They are forced to admit it, my dear," 
replied her mother. "Probably the most 
striking testimony ever borne to this point 
is that of the French infidel philosopher, 
Rousseau. It has been so often quoted as 
to be familiar to most readers, but may not 
be so to you. If you will bring me Rous- 
seau's works from the book-case, I will read 
it to you." 

Fanny brought the book, and her mother 
read as follows : 

" 'Is it possible that he whose history the 
Gospel records can be but a mere man? 
Does he speak in the tone of an enthusiast, 
or the ambitious leader of a sect? What 
mildness, what purity, in his manners ! 
What touching grace in his instructions! 



CHRIST INFIDEL TESTIMONY. 179 

what elevation in his maxims! what pro- 
found wisdom in his discourses ! what pres- 
ence of mind! what ingenuity, and what 
justness, in his answers! What government 
of his passions ! * »* * What prejudice, 
what blindness or dishonesty, is that which 
dares to compare the son of Sophroniscus 
with the son of Mary ! What a difference 
between the two ! Socrates dying without 
pain, without disgrace, easily sustains his 
part to the last ; and if his death, however 
easy, had not crowned his life, it might 
have been doubted whether Socrates, with 
all his wisdom, was anything more than a 
vain sophist. * * * The death of Socrates, 
peaceably philosophizing with his friends, 
appears the mildest that could be desired; 
that of Jesus, expiring in tortures, mocked, 
reviled and insulted by a whole nation, is 
the most horrible that could be feared. Soc- 
rates, receiving the poisoned cup, blessed the 
executioner, who presented it in tears; Jesus, 
in the midst of excruciating tortures, prayed 
for his merciless tormentors. Yes! if the 
16* 



180 THE GUIDING STAR. 

life and death of Socrates were those of a 
sage, the life and death of Jesus were those 
of a God!'" 

"Is it possible that a man can say all 
that 3 and yet remain an infidel ? " said 
James. 

" Yes, for, after having said this, he adds, 
{ Yet I cannot believe? " 

"It seems impossible, incredible!" said 
Fanny. 

"But, perhaps, mother," suggested James, 
"he thought of the character of Christ only 
as a beautiful picture drawn by the Evan- 
gelists, and did not believe that such a per- 
son ever really existed." 

" That supposition is precluded by what 
he goes on to say. After the passage I read 
to you, he adds : 

" ' Shall we suppose the evangelic history 
a mere fiction ? Indeed, my friend, it bears 
not the marks of fiction ; — on the contrary, 
the history of Socrates, which nobody pre- 
sumes to doubt, is not so well attested as 
that of Jesus. Such a supposition, in fact, 



CHRIST INFIDEL TESTIMONY. 181 

only shifts the difficulty, without obviating 
it ; for it is more inconceivable that a num- 
ber of persons should agree to write such a 
history, than that one should be found to be 
the subject of it. The Jewish authors were 
incapable of the style of the gospels, and 
strangers to their morality; and, in short, 
the stamp of truth they bear is so striking 
and inimitable, that the inventor would be 
a more wonderful character even than the 
hero.' " 

"That settles the question, of course," 
remarked James. "But how can you ac- 
count for it, then, mother, that he remained 
an unbeliever ? " 

" Only in the same way in which we can 
account for the unbelief of the Pharisees 
who themselves witnessed the miracles, and 
beheld the holy example, of our Lord ; - — 
they would not believe, because his teach- 
ings condemned their wickedness and hypoc- 
risy. Rousseau was a thoroughly bad man; 
his life was stained with the most odious 
vices, and of course he hated the light. No 



182 THE GUIDING STAR. 

amount of evidence would convince such a 
man." 

"It seems very dreadful that there should 
be such men," said Fanny. 

"Yes; it throws light on the meaning of 
such awful passages as ' treasuring up wrath 
against the day of wrath.' But there is an 
individual of the human race, exceeding in 
guilt, perhaps, every other, who gave a still 
stronger involuntary testimony to the truth 
of Christ's claims, though not in words; — 
do you know to whom I refer ? " 

"I am sure I do not," said Fanny, — "un- 
less," she added, after a pause, "unless you 
mean Judas. But how did he testify to the 
truth of Christ's claims?" 

"'Why, by the remorse he exhibited for 
having betrayed him. If Christ were really 
an impostor, — and Judas had every oppor- 
tunity to know whether he was or not, — he 
deserved a worse fate than that he suffered. 
Yet Judas was so overwhelmed with re- 
morse for what he had done, that he could 
not endure life ; his ill-gotten gains became 



CHRIST INFIDEL TESTIMONY. 183 

hateful to him; he threw down the thirty 
pieces of silver in the temple, and departed 
and went and hanged himself." 

"I wonder I never thought of that as 
being a testimony in favor of Christ, be- 
fore," said Fanny. "It is the strongest 
kind of testimony, too." 

"Yes, none could be stronger. But I 
think we must bring our conversation to a 
close, now. We have finished the consid- 
eration of the internal evidences, and shall 
begin upon the external next Sabbath. 
Some of these, as not being adapted to your 
comprehension at present, I shall but glance 
at, or wholly omit. Others I shall dwell 
upon at some length. The two principal 
points will be the evidence drawn from mir- 
acles, and that from prophecy. The first of 
these we will consider next Sabbath." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

EVIDENCE FROM MIRACLES. 

" We have come back, now, to one of the 
questions you asked us at first, mother," 
said James, — " what credentials or tokens 
God could give to show that a revelation 
was from him?" 

"Yes, and I believe we concluded then 
that the power of working miracles was, so 
far as men can see, the only credential, not 
liable to be denied or counterfeited, which 
he could give." 

" But miracles have been denied, — have 
they not?" asked James; "and they have 
certainly been counterfeited." 

"I mean, not liable to be denied by the 
candid and unprejudiced. Everything may 
be and will be denied, as we saw yester- 
day, by the wilfully blind. As to their 
being counterfeited, the few miserable at- 



MIRACLES. 185 

tempts at impostures of this sort, made by- 
wicked and designing men, in different ages, 
are so widely and ludicrously different from 
many of the stupendous miracles recorded 
in the Bible, that they form no exception to 
my remark. What, for instance, could be 
more unlike the pretended popish miracles, 
where an image moves its eyes, or sweats 
blood, — instances wrought in secret, in the 
walls of a church or convent, and where 
deception would be so easy, — what could 
be more unlike these than the dividing of 
the Red Sea, for the Israelites to pass 
•through?" 

" A difference, indeed ! " said Fanny. 

" To return, then : you see that miracles 
are probable, on the supposition that a reve- 
lation was to be given, because miracles are 
the most suitable and natural mode of 
authenticating such a revelation. Now, the 
question whether miracles really have been 
performed, or, rather, whether the miracles 
recorded in the Bible were performed, is to 
be settled in the same way that any other 



186 THE GUIDING STAR. 

question of facts is settled, — by an appeal 
to testimony." 

" That always seems to me such a poor 
kind of evidence," said James; — " I mean, 
I never feel satisfied with it." 

"In that point you are mistaken, my 
son. I will presently convince you. Do 
you believe, or not, that there is such a 
country as England?" 

"Certainly, I believe it," replied James. 

"But why, since you have never been 
there?" 

James reflected for a moment. "I be- 
lieve it because so many others have been 
there, and have written about it, — because 
I have seen people who have been there, 
and because I have seen ships which have 
come from there, and the passengers and 
cargoes they have brought." 

"Very well; — that is, you believe it on 
testimony. Now, do you not believe it as 
fully as if you had been to England your- 
self?" 

"Yes, mother, I think I do; — yes, I do, 



MIRACLES. 187 

I am sure. It never occurred to me to 
doubt it. But then, there is so much testi- 
mony, — so many thousands of people have 
been to England, and come back ; and what 
possible motive could all these people have 
for pretending there was such a country, if 
there was not?" 

i " Exactly so. There is a certain amount 
of testimony, then, which will satisfy even 
you, especially if the thing to be believed is 
neither incredible or improbable. Now, let 
us see what this amount is. Suppose that 
while you were away at school, last year, 
you had received a letter from Fanny, in 
which she told you that our house had 
taken fire, and been burned to the ground. 
Suppose she had related the whole affair 
circumstantially, — describing the origin and 
progress of the fire, the amount of damage 
done to the furniture, the distress in which 
we were plunged, and the arrangements we 
had made in consequence, — should you 

have believed this relation, or not?" 
17 



188 THE GUIDING STAR. 

" Certainly, mother, I should have be- 
lieved it." 

" Here, then, the testimony of one witness 
would have been sufficient. Suppose, more- 
over, that you had, soon after, received 
letters from your father and from me, 
separately, detailing the same facts, with 
additional particulars and remarks, — you 
would have no doubt at all of the matter." 

"No, mother, — certainly not." 

"But suppose, still further, that you 
should be visited by several persons from 
this place, all of whom should agree in the 
same statement, — this would be an addi- 
tional weight of evidence; and if you 
should, after a while, return, and find us 
settled in a new house, while only the 
blackened ruins of the former remained, 
you would have an amount of evidence as 
satisfactory as if you had witnessed the 
burning of the building with your own 
eyqs." 

"Yes, but the seeing of the ruins would 
not be testimony r , you know, mother." 



MIRACLES. 189 

u Very true; but it would be a corrobora- 
tion of testimony, nearly resembling, as 
I shall show you, corroborations we have 
of the Bible narratives. After all, you 
know, you would not have seen the fire, 
but only its effects." 

" However, the burning of a house is not 
a thing improbable," said James. " I should 
believe it on much less evidence. But I 
see that such an amount of evidence as you 
supposed would lead me to believe some- 
thing very improbable." 

"It is evident, then, that there is a kind 
and amount of evidence sufficient to prove 
any fact not absolutely impossible. There 
are certain marks which, if they should all 
be found to exist in relation to a certain as- 
serted fact, would put that fact beyond all 
doubt. These marks, as laid down by Mr. 
Leslie, are four : 

" 1. That the fact be such as men's out- 
ward senses can judge of; 

"2. That it be performed publicly -, in the 
presence of witnesses ; 



190 THE GUIDING STAR. 

"3. That there be public monuments and 
actions kept up in memory of it ; and 

"4. That such monuments and actions 
be established and commence at the time of 
the fact" 

"O dear! I am afraid I shall not under- 
stand all that," said Fanny. 

" Why, Fanny ! — it is as simple as any- 
thing ! " exclaimed her brother. 

"You will understand them, my dear, so 
soon as I illustrate them by an example," 
said her mother. "And I will take the 
same one I mentioned before. Moses 
declares, in one of his books, that he 
brought the children of Israel out of 
Egypt, by the command of God ; that when 
Pharaoh pursued them, and there appeared 
no way of escape, the Red Sea • opened 
before them, and that they passed through 
it in safety, while the Egyptians, who pur- 
sued them, were overtaken by the sea, and 
perished before their eyes. Now, would it 
have been possible for Moses to publish 
such an account as this, and make the peo- 



MIRACLES. 191 

pie believe it, if it were not true ? Could he 
persuade six hundred thousand men that 
they had really passed through a divided 
sea, if they had not ? " 

"No, mother, — certainly not." 

"Then here are the first two marks. 
The thing done was such as men's outward 
senses could judge of; and it was done jtraft- 
licly, in the presence of witnesses." 

" But although he could not have pub- 
lished his books in the lifetime of these 
men," said Fanny, "could they not have 
been written by some one afterwards, and 
called the books of Moses ? " 

"That is the very objection which Mr. 
Leslie answers," observed her mother. "I 
cannot read the whole of his argument, for 
it is too long; but I will give you the sub- 
stance of it. It is stated in the books them- 
selves that they were written by Moses, and 
kept in the ark from his time (Deut. 31 : 
24 — 26). Now, if this were not so, every- 
body would have known it; and when the 

books were first published, they would 
17* 



192 THE GUIDING STAR. 

know that they had never heard of them 
before. Besides, they would naturally ask, 
1 If all these wonderful things happened to 
our fathers, — if they were brought out of 
Egypt in so wonderful a manner, wandered 
forty years through the wilderness, living 
on bread from heaven, drinking water 
brought out of a rock, and guided by a 
pillar of fire, — how comes it that we have 
never heard of any of these things before? 
Surely the memory of such wonderful 
things would have been handed down from 
one generation to another, and we should 
have heard of them before now. 7 " 

"O yes," said Fanny; "I see it would 
not be so easy as I thought to cheat people." 

" But you have not considered half the 
difficulties. The five books of Moses con- 
tain the Jewish code of laws, instituted, as 
they declare, by him, and in force since his 
time. How could a nation be persuaded 
that they had always lived under a code of 
laws which they then heard of for the first 
time? Moreover, there are in these books 



MIRACLES. 193 

a thousand allusions to rites, ceremonies, 
institutions, and feasts, and to the events in 
memory of which they were established, 
that absolutely forbid any attempt at palm- 
ing them off on the people as the production 
of any other author, or at any other age, 
than the real one. Take the Passover, for 
example ; — how could a nation be made to 
believe that they had observed such a feast 
every year, in memory of a certain event, 
if they had never done it ] The fact that 
such a feast had been observed for years, 
and that it was in commemoration of 
God's passing over the Israelites when he 
slew the first-born, must have been known 
to every Israelite, and it afforded to each 
one a confirmation of the truth of Moses' 
account. Circumcision was another observ- 
ance, which they could not be made to 
believe they had practised, unless they had 
done so." 

"Yes, that is very plain," said James, 
drawing a long breath, as if relieved. " I 
do not see any possibility of deception." 



194 THE GUIDING STAR. 

"I will mention one more illustration/' 
said his mother. " You have both of you 
seen the Bunker-hill monument ; — in com- 
memoration of what was it erected?" 

"Of the battle of Bunker-hill," replied 
both at once. 

"This will do for an example, although 
it does not, strictly speaking, answer to one 
of Mr. Leslie's marks; for it was not erected 
at the time of the battle. But it was so 
soon after the time, and during the lifetime 
of some who were present at the battle, that 
it amounts to the same thing. Now, sup- 
pose that, two or three hundred years hence, 
some person should undertake to deny that 
any such battle ever took place, and should 
say that the monument was erected in 
memory of something else, could he suc- 
ceed in persuading the nation to adopt this 
belief?" 

" Why, no, — of course not," said James ; 
"because the memory of the battle will be 
preserved, and handed down from one gene- 
ration to another, and of the monument, as 



MIRACLES. 195 

connected with it ; and, besides, there are a 
great many histories of the battle already 
written, and some of these certainly will 
last." 

"Very well. Now, if you turn to the 
third and fourth chapters of Joshua, you 
will find an account of the miraculous 
dividing of the river Jordan, and of the pas- 
sage of the children of Israel through the 
river. As soon as they were passed over, 
God commanded Joshua to set up twelve 
stones, one for each tribe, as a pillar, in the 
midst of the river ; and this was the reason 
assigned, c That this may be a sign among 
you, that when your children ask their 
fathers, in time to come, saying, What mean 
ye by these stones? then ye shall answer 
them, that the waters of Jordan were cut 
off before the ark of the covenant of the 
Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the 
waters of Jordan were cut off; and these 
stones shall be a memorial unto the children 
of Israel forever.' 

" 'Now, to form our argument,' says Mr. 



196 THE GUIDING STAR. 

Leslie, l let us suppose that there never was 
any such thing as that passage over Jordan ; 
that these stones at Gilgal had been set up 
on some unknown occasion ; and that some 
designing man, in an after age, invented 
this book of Joshua, affirmed that it was 
written at the time of that imaginary- 
event by Joshua himself, and adduced this 
pile of stones as a testimony of its truth; 
would not everybody say to him, "We 
know this pile very well, but we never 
before heard of this reason for it, nor of this 
book of Joshua. Where has it lain con- 
cealed all this while ? and when and how 
came you, after so long a period, to find it ? 
Besides, it informs us that this passage over 
Jordan was solemnly directed to be taught 
our children, from age to age; and to 
that end, that they were always to be in- 
structed in the meaning of this particular 
monument; but we were never taught it 
ourselves, when we were children, nor did 
we ever teach it to our children." ' Do you 
not see the conclusiveness of this reasoning'?" 



MIRACLES. 197 

"O yes, mother, perfectly," replied James. 

"I understand it very well, now," said 
Fanny; "and I am sure nothing could be 
plainer. I think we have as good reason to 
believe in the miracles recorded in the 
Bible as if we had seen them." 

" But the miracles of Christ," said James ; 
" we have not the same kind of evidence for 
them, have we ? — that is, there are no 
monuments or institutions in memory of 
them." 

11 We have institutions and ordinances," 
said his mother, "which have come down 
to us from Christ's time, and which com- 
memorate some of his acts, though not his 
miraculous acts, — Baptism and the Lord's 
Supper ; — and as the whole Gospel narra- 
tive must stand or fall together, if one part 
of it is confirmed by institutions and ordi- 
nances, the whole is so confirmed." 

"I was thinking whether the first two 
marks you mentioned applied to the mira- 
cles of Christ," said James ; " and I see they 
do." 



198 THE GUIDING STAR. 

"Certainly they do, for his miracles were 
performed in public, and they were such as 
the senses of men could judge of. Take, 
for instance, his feeding the Jive thousand, 
or stilling the tempest, or giving sight to 
the blind men, or healing the lepers, or rais- 
ing Lazarus from the dead; — there could 
be no possible deception about them." 

"No," said James; "even the Pharisees 
could not deny them. You know what 
they said about the raising of Lazarus." 

"Moreover, Christ was himself the subject 
of many wonderful miracles, of which, one 
alone, his resurrection, would be sufficient 
to establish the truth of Christianity." 

" The chief priests knew that, I suppose, 
and that was the reason they took so much 
pains to make the people believe that he 
had been stolen by his disciples." 

"Yes, and that was the reason why the 
apostles insisted so much on the fact of the 
resurrection, in their preaching. If you 
read the sermons of Peter and Paul, re- 
corded in the book of Acts, you will find 



MIKACLES. 199 

that they constantly appeal to the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus as an admitted fact, and as 
one that proves his Divine mission." 

"It always seemed strange to me," said 
Fanny, "that Christ's disciples were so 
unwilling to believe that he was really risen 
from the dead, when he had told them so 
many times beforehand that he should rise." 

"It is strange," replied her mother, 
"though, perhaps, not more strange than 
many things about ourselves. But do you 
observe what a powerful effect the resurrec- 
tion of their Master had on them? They, 
who had been so fearful, timid, and irreso- 
lute before, became now bold as lions. 
Peter, who had ' followed afar off' at his 
trial, and then openly denied him, addressed 
an audience in the very city where he was 
crucified, not many days after, in these 
words : i Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved 
of God among you, by miracles, and won- 
ders, and signs, which God did by him in 
the midst of you, as ye yourselves also 
18 



200 THE GUIDING STAR. 

know, ye have taken, and, by wicked 
hands, have crucified and slain." 

"I never noticed the change in them as 
so remarkable before," said Fanny; "per- 
haps because it never seems as if the book 
of Acts joined right on to the Gospels." 

"But you know that it does, of course. 
The book of Acts begins with the ascension 
of Christ, and goes on to relate what hap- 
pened immediately after. But I want you 
to observe another characteristic of the 
miracles of Christ, beside their publicity 
and the impossibility of there being any 
deception about them, and that is the benev- 
olent end for which they were all wrought. 
He never performed a miracle for the sake 
of display, and merely to show what he 
could do; nor did he resort to miracles to 
supply his own wants, but always to relieve 
the necessities, or remove the sufferings, of 
others. This fact the multitude noticed, 
when they exclaimed, c He hath done all 
things well: he maketh both the blind to 
see, and the lame to walk.' " 



MIRACLES. 201 

"He must have healed a great many, in 
all/' said Fanny; "for it often says that 
multitudes came to him, and he healed 
them." 

"We have seen that the miracles of 
Christ rest on sufficient evidence, though I 
have not brought before you nearly all that 
I might have done. The question now to 
be answered is, Do these miracles substan- 
tiate Christ's claim to be a teacher sent from 
God? 7 ' 

"Why, yes, mother, of course," replied 
Fanny; "for if he were not, he could not 
have performed them." 

"You agree, then, with Nicodemus, in 
saying, 'Master, we know that thou art a 
teacher come from God; for no man can do 
these miracles that thou doest, except God 
be with him.' Did Jesus himself appeal to 
them as proofs of his Divine mission?" 

Fanny could not remember. James said, 
"Yes, when the disciples of John came to 
him, to know who he was, he replied, c Go 



202 THE GUIDING STAE. 

and tell John again the things ye have seen 
and heard/ &c." 

"Very well, then; we have considered 
to-night an entirely new and distinct species 
of evidence; and we find it leading us 
irresistibly to the same conclusion we had 
reached before. The Bible is the Word of 
God. Next time, we will consider the evi- 
dence from Prophecy.' 5 



CHAPTER XVII. 

EVIDENCE FROM PROPHECY. — NATURE OF THE ARGUMENT. 
— OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 

" I like this subject, mother," said Fanny, 
" because I can understand it easily, and I 
have found a great many prophecies which 
have been fulfilled." 

"I am glad to hear it," replied her moth- 
er ; " but first tell me what is a prophecy?" 

"It is telling beforehand something that 
is going to happen, is it not?" said Fanny. 

" Yes, it is the telling beforehand of some- 
thing that could be known only to God. And 
how does the fulfilment of prophecy furnish 
an evidence of the truth of revelation ?" 

"Why, if the revelation contains predic- 
tions of things that God only could know, 
then it follows that God only could have 
given the revelation." 
18* 



204 THE GUIDING STAR. 

" But it seems to me," said James, " that 
there would be some danger of deception 
here, as well as in the case of miracles. 
Did not the old heathen oracles predict 
things that came to pass, sometimes?" 

His mother smiled, which Fanny observ- 
ing, laughed outright. "I know what you 
are laughing at, mother," said she ; — Cl it is 
because James always finds something to 
object to, or to doubt about. I have noticed 
it a thousand times, — that he never will be- 
lieve anything if he can help it, while I 
believe everything that I hear." 

" Two opposite, and, perhaps, equally 
hurtful extremes," said her mother. "I 
have often observed James' tendency to 
scepticism, and yours to credulity. A proper 
medium between the two, — that is, a just 
caution in receiving and weighing evidence, 
— is the state of mind most favorable to the 
discovery of truth. But I will answer your 
question, my son. Yes, the heathen oracles 
did pretend, now and then, to predict future 
events; but you shall judge how much claim 



PROPHECY. 205 

their predictions had to rank with the proph- 
ecies of Scripture. 

"In the first place, they never undertook 
to pronounce upon the future, except in 
compliance with the solicitation of some 
one who applied to them for information. 
Of course, their predictions always related 
to some time not very distant, and events 
of comparatively trifling importance, about 
which they could often form some probable 
conjecture. They never uttered prophecies 
like those of Scripture, relating to far-distant 
times, and magnificent events; and their 
few and petty predictions bear far more 
resemblance to the foolish pratings of a 
fortune-telling old woman, than to the sub- 
lime utterances of the Sacred Prophets." 

"I wish I could remember something I 
have read," said Fanny, "about the answer 
the oracle gave to Croesus, when he went 
to consult it. Do you remember, James? " 

"Yes. Croesus asked the oracle what 
would be the result of his intended invasion 
of Persia j and was answered that, ( If he 



206 THE GUIDING STAB. 

crossed the Halys, he should destroy a great 
empire.' He thought this meant the Per- 
sian empire, of course ; but when the event 
turned out differently, the oracle pretended 
that he had not interpreted the prediction 
aright." 

"This anticipates what I was about to 
say next," observed his mother, viz., "that 
the heathen oracles, besides being few and 
unimportant, were ambiguous; that is, so 
expressed as to be capable of a double mean- 
ing. You have given one example, and I 
will mention another. Pyrrhus, King of Epi- 
rus, consulted the oracle, to know whether 
he should be successful against the Romans. 
The answer was in two Latin lines, which 
might be rendered — - I say that thou r son 
of iEacus, canst conquer the Romans. Thou 
shalt go, thou shalt return ; never shalt thou 
perish in war.' Or, it might mean, 'I say 
that the Romans can conquer thee, son of 
jEacus. Thou shalt go, thou shalt never 
return ; thou shalt perish in war.' Pyrrhus 
understood the oracle in a sense favorable to 



PROPHECY* 207 

himself, as Croesus had done, and, like him, 
was disappointed; yet the oracle maintained 
its credit." 

" What fools people must have been, in 
those days ! " said Fanny. 

"Not greater fools than in these days, I 
fancy," replied her mother, " So great is 
man's desire to penetrate into the future, 
that he will resort to almost any means 
which seem to promise the gratification of 
his wishes ; and any foolish fortune-teller, 
or astrologer, who should come here to-mor- 
row, would find some to consult him, and 
believe in him." 

"/should not be among them," muttered 
James, half to himself. 

" But to return to the heathen oracles. In 
spite of all their cunning tricks and ambi- 
guities, they, of course, often failed ; and 
then they had always some plausible ex- 
cuse at hand. They said the gods were not 
inclined to answer, or the time had been 
ill-chosen, or some indispensable ceremony 
had been omitted, or the inquirer had been 



208 THE GUIDING STAK. 

guilty of some sin ; and thus, in one way 
or another, they managed to retain a little 
credit." 

"I wonder at it," said James. "1 should 
think the philosophers would have known 
better, at any rate." 

" Many of them, perhaps all of them, did 
know better, and did not scruple to ridicule 
the oracles unmercifully. The Latin poet, 
Horace, says: f O, son of Laertes, what I 
now foretell will either come to pass, or it 
will not; for the great Apollo has given 
me the power of divination.' There was 
a famous soothsayer, named Alexander, of 
whom his biographer, Lucian, says : l Thus 
he delivered oracles and gave responses, but 
with great prudence, and giving perplexed, 
doubtful, or obscure answers, according to 
the custom of oracles. 7 " 

" I am glad that everybody was not de- 
ceived by them," said Fanny. 

" The priests of the heathen oracles, more- 
over, received money for their divinations, — 
sometimes very large sums, — while the 



PltOPIIECY. 209 

prophets of Jehovah, so far from being re- 
warded, often suffered severely for their pre- 
dictions. You recollect how Micaiah and 
Jeremiah were thrown into prison, because 
they would not ( prophesy smooth things' to 
the monarchs they served. " 

"I think all you say is true, mother," 
observed James, " about the heathen ora- 
cles ; and I am almost afraid to say what I 
am thinking of, lest you should think I am 
trying to find objections against the Bible; 
— but are not many of the predictions found 
in the Bible very obscure?" 

"I do not wish you to hesitate, my son," 
replied his mother, "to make known any 
difficulties or objections that rise in your 
mind ; for I cannot possibly answer your 
difficulties, unless I know them. It is true 
that the prophecies of Scripture are, to a 
certain extent, obscure; but none of them 
are ambiguous, as were the heathen oracles. 
That is, they are not susceptible of two 
meanings, opposite to each other, so that 
whichever way the event turned out, the 



210 THE GUIDING STAR. 

prophecy would appear to be true. On the 
contrary, they are so plain, that when the 
fulfilment takes place, there can be no sort 
of doubt as to the fact of the fulfilment or 
the meaning of the prophecy. As to the 
obscurity which really exists, there were 
very important reasons for it, some of which, 
perhaps, you can discover." 

As neither of the children could think of 
any reason, their mother went on. "It is 
evidently inconsistent with God's plan re- 
specting this life as a state of probation, that 
all his purposes should be known before- 
hand. In regard to individuals, you can see 
at once that this would not answer. If 
you, for instance, were made acquainted 
with everything that is to befall you in the 
course of your life, you would be prevented 
from acting freely ; your character would not 
be developed according to its natural course, 
and thus God's aim regarding you would 
not be fulfilled. One great feature of our 
probation is the uncertainty in which we 
live with respect to the future. If we 



PROPHECY. 211 

knew, when a sickness attacked us, that we 
were certainly to recover, and that in a 
short time, the moral effect of the dispen- 
sation would be greatly lessened, if not 
wholly lost. The same is true of nations. 
God's providence in regard to them could 
not be carried on, if prophecy had informed 
them distinctly of all that was to happen. 
Do you see this?" 

" Yes, mother," replied James; "and, be- 
sides, I think that sometimes people would 
try to prevent the accomplishment of proph- 
ecy, if it were not partly obscure." 

" Yes, I was about to mention that as a 
second reason for its obscurity. The Em- 
peror Julian did actually try to rebuild the 
temple at Jerusalem, in order to falsify the 
prediction that it should never be rebuilt; 
but he was stopped, in his foolish and wicked 
purpose, by balls of fire, which broke out of 
the ground, and obliged his workmen to 
cease from their labors." 

"I remember reading of that, in Roman 
history," said James. 
19 



212 THE GUIDING STAR. 

" Another reason is," continued his moth- 
er, " that if prophecy were wholly free from 
obscurity, it might be pretended by objectors 
that it was fulfilled designedly by the actors 
in it; that is, they performed the act on 
purpose to accomplish the prophecy. This 
has been asserted already by some infidels ; 
and you may judge with how much more 
apparent ground it would have been said, if 
prophecy had been free from all obscurity. 
In fact, there is nothing in which the wis- 
dom of God is more conspicuous than in 
the precise degree of obscurity in which 
prophecy is veiled. It is plain enough to 
remove all doubt from the mind when it is 
actually fulfilled, and obscure enough not to 
defeat the purposes of God, by making them 
too distinctly known beforehand. 7 ' 

"I never thought of it so before," said 
James ; " but it seems very striking now." 

" The argument from this source is a very 
strong one, and cannot be evaded. Prophecy 
has been called a standing miracle ; and it 
is, indeed, a miracle of the most wonderful 



PROPHECY. 21 3 

kind. It is not in the fulfilment of detached 
predictions alone that we see its full weight, 
though some of these are remarkable in the 
highest degree; but we must look at the 
successive prophecies as forming a chain or 
series, — a wonderful whole, — beginning in 
obscurity, but gradually becoming plainer 
and plainer, as the time of accomplishment 
drew near. Such of the prophecies as re- 
lated to the Messiah were admirably calcu- 
lated to keep alive the expectation of him in 
the minds of the Jewish people, and to pre- 
pare the way for his coming, when the ful- 
ness of time should arrive. They were also 
greatly adapted to comfort the hearts of those 
true saints who ( waited for the consolation 
of Israel,' of whom there were some in every 
age." 

"In one respect," said James, " prophecy 
seems to be better than miracles as a proof 
— it grows stronger and stronger, as time goes 
on. In the beginning of the world, men could 
not have had any proof from prophecy." 

"That is true," observed his mother, "and 



214 THE GUIDING STAR. 

I am glad you have thought of it. Do you 
recollect any passages in the Bible in which 
the power of foretelling future events is 
ascribed to God as an attribute of Deity 
alone?" 

"I think there is a passage in Isaiah," said 
James j "but I do not recollect the words." 

"There are several passages in Isaiah; 
but probably the one to which you refer is 
that in which God calls on the idols of the 
heathen to prove their claims to worship by 
revealing the future. l Show the things that 
are to come hereafter, that we may know 
that ye are gods ; yea, do good or do evil, 
that we may be dismayed, and behold it to- 
gether. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your 
work of nought ; an abomination is he that 
chooseth you.' Peter, also, after speaking 
of the transfiguration of Christ, which he 
himself had witnessed, goes on to say, — 
1 Moreover, we have a more sure word of 
prophecy, unto which ye do well that ye 
take heed as to a light that shineth in a 
dark place.' " 



PROPHECY. 215 

"But, mother, when are we going to begin 
to mention the instances we have found of 
the fulfilment of prophecy ? " asked Fanny. 
"I am afraid we shall not have half time 
enough this evening." 

"No, my dear, I think not; and we will 
therefore postpone this part of the subject till 
next Sabbath. Do not look so disappointed; 
you will have more time to collect and ar- 
range your illustrations ; and I wish to give 
you one direction about it. You may pro- 
duce first whatever examples you can find 
of the accomplishment of scattered predic- 
tions, such as those relating to Babylon, 
Tyre, &>c., and then place by themselves, 
those which relate to Christ, which you will 
find very numerous. Another thing: recollect 
that each of the books of the Bible is a dis- 
tinct and independent production, the work 
of one author and published at one time, the 
whole together forming a series of successive 
publications, extending over a period of sev- 
eral thousand years. A great deal of the 
force of this and other arguments for the 
19* 



216 THE GUIDING STAB. 

Divine origin of the Scriptures is lost by our 
habit of regarding them as one book, because 
they happen to be bound in one volume." 

" Why, what a difference it makes, even 
to think of it!" said Fanny. "It always 
seems to me as if all the Bible was written 
at once." 

"How can you talk so, Fanny?" asked 
James. " You know that Moses, who wrote 
the first five books, was dead long before 
David and Isaiah, and the other prophets, 
lived." 

"Yes, I know it well enough, but I never 
think of it. If we had each of the books of 
the Bible in a separate form, it would make 
a great difference." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

EVIDENCE FROM PROPHECY, CONTINUED. — PROPHECIES 
RELATING TO BABYLON AND TYRE. 

"I am sure," said Fanny, as she seated 
herself, Bible in hand, the next Sabbath 
evening, " my head is quite confused with 
the number of things in it; and I have so 
many fulfilled prophecies to mention, that I 
shall not know where to begin." 

"It will, of course, be impossible," ob- 
served her mother, " to notice all or half the 
examples we might like to do ; we must 
limit ourselves to a few, and we will begin 
with those relating to Babylon. Fanny, you 
may read such passages as you have found 
predicting the destruction of Babylon.' 5 

Fanny read: "And Babylon, the glory 
of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees* 
excellency, shall be as when God overthrew 
Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be 



218 THE GUIDING STAR. 

inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from 
generation to generation ; neither shall the 
Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the 
shepherds make their fold there. But wild 
beasts of the desert shall lie there ; and their 
houses shall be full of doleful creatures ; and 
owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall 
dance there." (Is. 13 : 19—21.) "One post 
shall run to meet another, and one messen- 
ger to meet another, to show the King of 
Babylon that his city is taken at one end, 
and that the passages are stopped, and the 
reeds they have burned with fire, and the 
men of war are affrighted." "Thus saith 
the Lord, Behold, I will dry up her sea, and 
make her springs dry. And Babylon shall 
become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, 
an astonishment and a hissing, without an 
inhabitant. The broad walls of Babylon 
shall be utterly broken, and her high gates 
shall be burned with fire. Thus shall Bab- 
ylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil 
that I shall bring upon her." (Jer. 51 : 31, 
32, 36, 37, 58, 64.) 



PROPHECY. 219 

"That will do, my dear," said her mother; 
"we will read only as much as is necessary 
to our purpose, in order to save time. Now, 
in order that this prophecy should be proved 
to be from God, it is necessary that it should 
have been written before the event ; that it 
predicts things which coidd not be foreseen 
by human sagacity ; and that it is so clear 
and minute as to leave no doubt whether it 
corresponds icith the event. As to the first 
point, we have abundant evidence of vari- 
ous kinds. That Isaiah's prophecy was 
known as part of the sacred writings among 
the Jews in Christ's time, is proved by his 
reading from it in the synagogue. And we 
have the testimony of Josephus, that it was 
known to Cyrus ; for he says that when Cy- 
rus learned, from the book of Isaiah, that 
God's will was that he should send back 
the Jews to their own country, and permit 
them to rebuild their temple, £ an earnest 
desire and ambition came upon him to fulfil 
what was so written,' and he obeyed ac- 
cordingly. 



220 the guiding stak. 

" So much for the first point. Now, as to 
the second ; — could the things here pre- 
dicted be foreseen by human sagacity ? And 
in order to answer this question, we must 
inquire what was the condition and appear- 
ance of Babylon at the time the prophecy 
was uttered. James, can you give us a 
description of the city 1 " 

"It was of immense size and magnifi- 
cence," said James; "its walls are said to 
have been eighty-seven feet thick, and three 
hundred and fifty feet high, and to have 
been sixty miles in compass,— that is, fifteen 
on each side. It had a hundred gates of 
solid brass, twenty-five on each side, and 
between every two of the gates were three 
towers. There were fifty streets crossing 
each other at right angles, and so dividing 
the city in six hundred and seventy-six 
squares. It was situated on each side of 
the river Euphrates, and the two parts were 
connected by a bridge fifty feet wide, at 
each end of which there was a magnificent 
palace. Then there were splendid hanging 



PROPHECY. 221 

gardens, filled with beautiful trees and 
plants, and watered by aqueducts." 

"It had also," said his mother, " a very 
extensive commerce in all manner of rich 
goods and precious stones ; it was situated in 
a rich and fertile country ; and by all these 
advantages, joined to its high and massive 
walls, it seemed to bid defiance to the rav- 
ages of time, and the attacks of enemies. 
Although in Isaiah's time it had not reached 
its full magnificence, yet even then it well 
merited the titles it received, — the great 
city, the praise of the whole earthy the beauty 
of the Chaldees* excellency, the lady of king- 
doms. Was there anything, then, to make 
it probable to human foresight that all this 
beauty and strength should come to nought, 
and utterly cease to exist?" 

"Certainly not," was the reply of James 
and Fanny. 

"Now, then, let us compare the predic- 
tion with the fulfilment, and see if the agree- 
ment is minute and clear. 

"Your first quotation, Fanny, was from 



222 THE GUIDING STAR. 

the thirteenth chapter of Isaiah, beginning 
at the nineteenth verse. In the seven- 
teenth verse, it is said, ' Behold, I will stir 
up the Medes against them, which shall not 
regard silver; and as for gold, they shall 
not delight in it.' Now, this is a very re- 
markable passage, on many accounts. In 
the first place, the Medes were not, at this 
time, a separate and independent nation. 
Media was a province of Assyria, of which 
Babylon was the capital, and thus tributary 
to the very city which it was predicted it 
should destroy. This prediction was, there- 
fore, in the highest degree improbable. Then 
it is said that they c shall not regard silver or 
gold,' — a very unlikely thing, as most con- 
querors are influenced by the hope of plun- 
der. But Xenophon makes Cyrus begin a 
speech to his soldiers thus : ' Ye Medes and 
others who now hear me, I well know that 
you have not accompanied me in this expe- 
dition with the hope of acquiring wealth.' 
Again, Xenophon says of Cyrus, 'So little 
did he regard silver, or delight in gold, that 



PROPHECY. 223 

Croesus told him that by his liberality he 
would make himself poor. The Medes 
possessed, in this respect, the spirit of their 
chief 

" How very remarkable ! " said Fanny. 

"Now, then, to go on. It is predicted 
that Babylon i shall be as when God over- 
threw Sodom and Gomorrah ;' that is, it 
shall be completely and hopelessly destroyed. 
By what means was this most unlikely pre- 
diction accomplished ] " 

"Cyrus turned the course of the river 
Euphrates, and entered under the gates," 
said Fanny. " But, mother, one of the pas- 
sages I have marked relates to that. It says 
here, ' Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, 
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, 
to subdue nations before him; and I will 
loose the loins of kings, to open before him 
the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not 
be shut ; I will go before thee and make the 
crooked places straight : I will break in 
pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder 
the bars of iron, and I will give thee the 
20 



224 THE GUIDING STAB. 

treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of 
secret places.' " 

" Yes, there will be many points to notice 
in that passage, when we come to consider 
the fulfilment. But this capture of the city 
by Cyrus was only the first step in its 
downfall. But Cyrus did not destroy the 
city ; he left its walls and towers, and mag- 
nificent decorations, untouched. It after- 
wards rebelled against his successor, Darius, 
and was taken by him a second time, in a 
manner not less remarkable than at first by 
Cyrus. Zopyrus, one of the chief nobles of 
Persia, cut off his own nose and ears, and 
then presented himself to the Babylonians 
as a deserter from Darius, who had muti- 
lated him, he pretended, in that horrible 
manner. He was admitted by degrees into 
the confidence of the inhabitants, and when 
it was supposed his fidelity had been fully 
tested, he was intrusted with the command 
of the army, and the guardianship of the 
walls. He then opened the gates to Darius, 
who, having become master of the city, lev- 



PROPHECY. 225 

elled the walls, took away the gates, and 
ordered three thousand of the nobility to be 
crucified. This was the second step in its 
downfall." 

"That nobleman, that Zopyrus, must 
have been strongly attached to Darius, I 
should think," observed Fanny. " But 
what happened to poor Babylon next, 
mother?" 

"Next it was captured by Alexander the 
Great; afterwards by Antigonus, and then 
by Antiochus the Great; finally, by the 
Parthians. Other circumstances contributed 
to its downfall. Cyrus transferred the seat 
of empire from Babylon to Susa, or Shu- 
shan, which became the capital. Seleucus 
founded the city of Seleucia, on the Tigris, 
near by, and thither many of the inhabit- 
ants of Babylon removed. Cyrus, by turn- 
ing the course of the river, had converted 
the country round into a vast morass, un- 
healthy and incapable of cultivation. Thus 
Babylon declined, till it became gradually a 
great desert, and finally a hunting-ground 



226 THE GUIDING STAR. 

for the Persian monarchs. In 1322, Sir 
John Maundeville, an Asiatic traveller, says, 
' Babylon is in the grete deserts of Arabye, 
upon the way as men gow towards the 
kyngdome of Caldee. But it is full longe 
sithe any man durste myle to the toure, for 
it is alle deserte and full of dragons and 
great serpentes, and fulle dyverse veney- 
mous bestes all abouten.' " 

"Mother," said Fanny, "may I read this 
account of the present state of Babylon from 
my large Bible Dictionary ? " 

" Let me see it, my dear. No, it will oc- 
cupy too much time to read the whole of 
that aloud. But I will read some of the 
predictions, one clause at a time, and then 
you or James may read the evidence of its 
fulfilment from some of the books of travels 
I see you have collected there. And first I 
read, It shall never be inhabited, neither 
shall it be dwelt in from generation to gen- 
eration^ 

James read: "The eye wanders over a 
barren desert, in which the ruins are nearly 



PROPHECY. 227 

the only indication that it had ever been 
inhabited. It is impossible to behold this 
scene and not be reminded how exactly the 
predictions of Isaiah and Jeremiah have 
been fulfilled." 

Fanny: "The ground, is low and marshy, 
and presents not the slightest vestige of for- 
mer buildings of any description whatever." 

" ' Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent 
there; neither shall the shepherds make 
their fold there? How could this be ful- 
filled, when the region had formerly been so 
fertile and rich in pasturage ?" 

"I suppose, because it was so marshy," 
said James. "Mr. Rich says, 'The ruins 
of Babylon are inundated so as to render 
many parts of them inaccessible.' And it 
says in Porter's travels, l On this part of the 
plain all seemed equally naked of vegeta- 
tion, the whole ground appearing as if it 
had been washed over and over again, by 
the coming and receding waters, till every 
bit of genial soil was swept away ; its half 

clay, half sandy surface, being left in ridgy 
20* 



228 TIIE GUIDING STAR. 

streaks, like what is often seen on the flat 
shores of the sea, after the retreating of the 
tide.' " 

" And then, about the Arabian not pitch- 
ing tent there," said Fanny, " here is some- 
thing. Captain Miguan was accompanied 
by six Arabs, completely armed, but he 
could not induce them to remain at night, 
from the apprehension of evil spirits. And 
the missionary Wolfe says, C I inquired of 
them whether the Arabs ever pitched their 
tents among the ruins of Babylon. No, 
said they ; the Arabs believe that the ghost 
of Nimrod walks amidst them in the dark- 
ness, and no Arab would venture on so haz- 
ardous an experiment.' " 

"But wild beasts of the desert shall lie 
there, and their houses shall be full of dole- 
ful creatures ; and owls shall divell there, 
and satyrs shall dance there" 

" Mother, what are meant by satyrs?" 
asked Fanny. 

"It is not certainly known, but probably 



PROPHECY. 229 

the word should have been rendered wild 
goats ox fawns" 

James read : " These caverns, over which 
the chambers of majesty may have been 
spread, are now the refuge of jackals and 
other savage animals. The mouths of their 
entrances are strewed with the bones of 
sheep and goats, and the loathsome smell 
that issues from most of them is sufficient 
warning not to proceed into the den.*' 

"That will do, my dear, though I see 
you have many other passages marked to 
read. But we cannot spend all our time on 
one prophecy, however interesting. We 
must not, however, pass over the passage 
you read, Fanny, from the forty-first of 
Isaiah, relating to Cyrus, because it is espe- 
cially remarkable. Here, you see, is a man 
prophesied of by name more than a hun- 
dred years before he was born, and his char- 
acter and acts are foretold. We can stay 
only to notice one or two remarkably minute 
predictions in this passage. God says, \ to 
open before him the two-leaved gates, and 



230 THE GUIDING STAR. 

the gates shall not be shut. 5 Do you know 
how this was fulfilled?" 

"I was wondering about that," said 
Fanny, " because it looks as if the gates 
were left open; but you know Cyrus entered 
under the gates, in the bed of the river." 

"Yes, he entered in that way; but we 
learn from Herodotus that this did not give 
him access to the city, for there were walls 
on each side of the river Euphrates, with 
gates opening to the river from the streets. 
If these gates had been closed, as they usu- 
ally were at night, Cyrus and his army 
would have been shut up in the bed of the 
river. These gates, as well as the gates of 
the palace, were left open on that night of 
feasting and revelry, and thus this remarka- 
ble prediction was fully verified." 

"I noticed one thing," said James; "it 
says, C I will loose the loins of kings; 5 and 
in Daniel, when Belshazzar saw the writing 
on the wall, it is stated that ' the joints of 
his loins were loosed.' " 



PROPHECY. 231 

"How many wonderful coincidences!" 
said Fanny. 

"Yes," replied her mother; "this one 
prophecy, were there no other, would be 
amply sufficient to prove the Divine original 
of the book from which it is taken. It was 
written at least one hundred and seventy 
years before its accomplishment, and when 
there was the strongest improbability that it 
ever would be accomplished. It is so minute 
and particular, that its fulfilment cannot be 
set down to accident, or styled fancied and 
imaginary. It has been remarked by Dr. 
Barnes, that a man might, with as much 
probability, predict now that London, Paris, 
New York or Philadelphia, will be the resi- 
dence of 'wild beasts,' l satyrs,' and 'drag- 
ons/ as the same prediction could have 
been made respecting Babylon, at the time 
when Isaiah uttered his prophecy. What 
other examples have you found among cities 
or nations'?" 

"Tyre and Nineveh," said Fanny. 

"And Egypt," added James. "But, 



232 THE GUIDING STAR. 

mother," continued he, "I wish you would 
let me read just one or two passages more 
about Babylon, because they are very curi- 
ous, and relate to some points we have not 
noticed." 

" Very well, my dear ; read them." 
" There is one which shows how the city 
would be taken, by the river Euphrates 
being turned aside ; and another which tells 
that it would happen while the inhabitants 
were holding a feast, and were drunk, so 
that they could not defend themselves. '•A 
drought is upon her waters, and they shall 
be dried up. I will dry up her sea, and make 
her springs dry. And I will make drunk 
her princes, and her wise men, her captains, 
and her rulers, and her mighty men ; and 
they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not 
wake, saith the King whose name is the 
Lord of hosts. One post shall run to meet 
another, and one messenger to meet another, 
to show the King of Babylon that his city is 
taken at one end.' " 

"Yes, they are very striking passages," 



PROPHECY. 233 

observed his mother. u And now I think 
we will look at the prophecies relating to 
Tyre. Fanny, you may read some of the 
most striking of them." 

Fanny read the following passages : — 
"Thus saith the Lord God; behold, I am 
against thee, oh Tyrus, and will cause many 
nations to come up against thee, as the sea 
causeth his waves to come up. And they 
shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break 
down her towers : I will also scrape her 
dust from her, and make her like the top of 
a rock. It shall be a place for the spread- 
ing of nets in the midst of the sea : for I 
have spoken it, saith the Lord God ; and it 
shall become a spoil to the nations. And 
they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and 
make a prey of thy merchandise : and they 
shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy 
pleasant houses ; and they shall lay thy 
stones and thy timber and thy dust in the 
midst of the water. And I will make thee 
like the top of a rock : thou shalt be a place 
to spread nets upon 5 thou shalt be built no 



234 THE GUIDING STAR. 

more; for I the Lord have spoken it." 
Ezek. 26. 

"And then/' continued Fanny, "the 
whole of the next chapter is filled with 
descriptions of the riches and glory of Tyre, 
and of the lamentation that should be made 
over her. ' And all that handle the oar, the 
mariners and all the pilots of the sea, shall 
come down from their ships; they shall stand 
upon the land, and shall cause their voice to 
be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, 
and shall cast up dust upon their heads ; 
they shall wallow themselves in the ashes ; 
and they shall make themselves utterly bald 
for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and 
they shall weep for thee with bitterness of 
heart and with bitter wailing : and in their 
wailing they shall take up a lamentation for 
thee, and lament over thee, saying, What 
city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the 
midst of the sea ? ' " 

" That will do, Fanny. Now for the ful- 
filment. James, what have you to say 1 " 

" Here is a passage from Maundrell/' said 



PROPHECY. 235 

James: w 'This city, standing in the sea upon 
a peninsula, promises, at a distance, some- 
thing very magnificent. But when you come 
to it, you find no similitude of that glory for 
which it was so renowned in ancient times, 
and which the prophet Ezekiel describes. 
On the north side it has an old Turkish 
ungarrisoned castle ; besides which you see 
nothing here but a mere Babel of broken 
walls, pillars, vaults, &c, there being not so 
much as one entire house left. Its present 
inhabitants are only a few poor wretches, 
harboring themselves in the vaults, and sub- 
sisting chiefly upon fishing, who seem to be 
preserved in this place by Divine Provi- 
dence, as a visible argument how God has 
fulfilled his word concerning Tyre, that it 
should he as the top of a rock, a place for 
fishers to dry their nets on.' " 

"Was this 'ruin effected all at once, or 
gradually?" asked his mother. 

" Not all at once, I believe. I know Neb- 
uchadnezzar destroyed it the first time, and 

I believe Alexander the Great did again." 
21 



236 THE GUIDING STAR. 

" Yes, and after Alexander's time, it fell 
successively into the hands of the Ptolemies, 
the Kings of Syria, the Saracens, the Chris- 
tians, the Mamelukes and the Turks. So 
that the prediction, ' I will raise up many 
?iations against thee J is verified. A recent 
traveller remarks, c There are no signs of 
the ancient city ; and as it is a sandy shore, 
the face of everything is altered, and the 
great aqueduct in many parts is almost 
buried in the sand.' 

"Now, this entire destruction of an opu- 
lent, powerful, and commercial city, so 
favorably situated as was Tyre, is some- 
thing as improbable as was the ruin of Bab- 
ylon, and furnishes an evidence of the truth 
of prophecy not to be set aside." 

"And now, shall we go on to Nineveh, 
mother ? " asked Fanny. 

"No, I think we will not take up any 
more examples to-night. One remark, how- 
ever, I will make about Nineveh. The very 
recent discoveries of Mr. Layard, of whom 
you have iaeard, have abundantly confirmed 



PROPHECY. 237 

all the Scripture accounts of the greatness 
and magnificence of that city, and it may- 
be expected that his further researches will 
throw new light upon many passages of 
prophecy. Since his return to Nineveh, he 
has found a large room filled with what 
appear to be the archives of the empire, 
ranged in tables of terra cotta, the writings 
being as perfect as when they were first 
stamped. The rest of the building had been 
destroyed by fire, but this room was unin- 
jured. It is supposed that this and the 
other surrounding buildings, in which the 
marks of fire are observed, were consumed 
when the Medes took the city, six hundred 
and six years before Christ. And this room 
has been kept sealed up during all these 
intervening centuries, to be opened now, in 
the Providence of God, and made to render 
up its contents, for the purpose of throwing 
new light on the word of God." 

"I hope I shall read Mr. Layard's ac- 
counts," said James. 

"It will be a good book for you to read 



238 THE GUIDING STAR. 

aloud to mother and me, perhaps," sug- 
gested Fanny. 

" The history of the Jews furnishes many- 
wonderful instances of the fulfilment of 
prophecy," observed her mother. " But 
we must pass them by, and go on to the 
prophecies about Christ." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

PROPHECIES RELATING TO CHRIST. 

"In what order shall we read our pas- 
sages, mother?" asked Fanny. "Shall we 
begin with those in Genesis, and so go on 
through the Bible?" 

"No, I think a different arrangement will 
be better. I will ask questions, and either 
of you may read passages in answer. 
What was predicted in regard to the time 
of Messiah's birth?" 

"'I have no passage in answer to that," 
said Fanny. 

"I have one," said James ; "here it is, in 
Daniel ; — ' Know, therefore, and under- 
stand, that from the going forth of the com- 
mandment to restore and to build Jerusalem 
unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven 
weeks and three score and two weeks.' " 

"Very well," said his mother; "that is 
21* 



240 THE GUIDING STAR. 

the most explicit of any of the predictions 
relating to time. Christ's coming was to be 
seventy weeks after the decree of Cyrus to 
restore and to rebuild Jerusalem. But there 
are other prophecies which help to fix the 
time : it was to be when the sceptre was 
departing from Judah (Gen. 49 : 10) ; it 
was to be while the second temple was 
standing (Haggai 2: 7, 9, and Mai. 3:1); 
and while there was a general expecta- 
tion of him (Haggai and Malachi). That 
such an expectation existed at the time of 
his coining, both among the Jews and other 
nations, we know from various sources. It 
is proved by the coming of the wise men 
from the East, saying, { Where is he that is 
born King of the Jews?' and by the Phari- 
sees going to John to ask whether he were 
the Christ. What is predicted of the place 
of his birth?" 

Fanny. " But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, 
though thou be little among the thousands 
of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come 
forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel." 



PROPHECY CONCERNING CHRIST. 241 

"And observe," said her mother, "how 
this was accomplished. Joseph and Mary 
did not live in Bethlehem ; and Christ would 
not have been born there, but for the decree 
of Caesar Augustus that all the world should 
be taxed or enrolled, which obliged them to 
go up to Bethlehem, just at that time. But, 
next, of what family was Christ to be 
born?" 

" Of the family of David," replied Fanny. 
— Ui And there shall come forth a rod out 
of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall 
grow out of his roots, and the spirit of the 
Lord shall rest upon him.' " 

"Yes, and it was also foretold that he 
should be descended from Abraham," said 
James; "for God said to Abraham, 'In thy 
seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed ;' 
and Christ said, L Abraham rejoiced to see 
my day, and he saw it and was glad.' " 

"What was to be remarkable in the 
manner of his birth ? " 

"He was to be born of a virgin: — 
6 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you 



242 THE GUIDING STAR. 

a sign : Behold a virgin shall conceive and 
bear a son, and shall call his name Im- 
manuel. 7 " 

" What were some of the particular events 
of his life that formed the subject of 
prophecy? 7 ' 

11 It was predicted that he should enter 
Jerusalem riding on an ass, 77 said Fanny: 
11 1 Behold thy King cometh unto thee; he is 
just, and having salvation; lowly, and 
riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the 
foal of an ass. 7 " 

"It was foretold that he should work 
miracles, 77 added James : " ' Then shall the 
eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of 
the deaf shall be unstopped ; then shall the 
lame man leap as the hart, and the tongue 
of the dumb shall sing. 7 77 

" His being betrayed for thirty pieces of 
silver was foretold, 77 said Fanny; "here is 
the place : — ' So they weighed for my 
price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord 
said unto me, Cast it unto the potter; a 
goodly price that I was prized at of them. 



PROPHECY CONCERNING CHRIST. 243 

And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and 
cast them to the potter in the house of the 
Lord.' " 

" The vinegar and gall they gave him to 
drink on the cross are mentioned/' said 
James: u -They gave me, also, gall for my 
meat ; and in my thirst they gave me vine- 
gar to drink.' " 

" And the very words he uttered on the 
cross, too," observed Fanny : — Ui My God, 
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? ' " 

11 Was there any prediction relating to his 
garments?" asked her mother. 

"O yes! in the same psalm it says, — 
1 They part my garments among them, and 
cast lots upon my vesture.' " 

"What was predicted as to the manner 
in which he should receive his sufferings, 
and the taunts and revilings of his ene- 
mies?" 

" ' He was oppressed and he was afflicted, 
yet he opened not his mouth ; he is brought 
as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep 



244 



THE GUIDING STAR. 



before her shearers is dumb, so he opened 
not his mouth.' " 

" Was anything foretold in relation to the 
place of his burial ? " 

"Not that I know of," replied Fanny. 

"Why, yes/' said James; "it is said 
here, in the same chapter of Isaiah you 
were reading from, ' He made his grave 
with the wicked and with the rich in his 
death;' and you know he was buried in the 
tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, who was a 
rich man, I suppose. And it says in the 
same chapter, i he was numbered with the 
transgressors;' which refers to his being 
crucified between two thieves." 

"His side was pierced by one of the 
soldiers ; and it says, in Zachariah, ' They 
shall look on me whom they have pierced,'" 
said Fanny. 

"That prediction," observed her mother, 
" as well as the one relating to the parting 
of his garments, was fulfilled by the Ro- 
mans ; and it cannot therefore be pretended 
that it was intentionally fulfilled by the 



PROPHECY CONCERNING CHRIST. 245 

agents in it. Nor can this be asserted of 
other events, in which the Jews were the 
actors ; for they would not knowingly have 
done anything to mark out Jesus as the 
Messiah who had been foretold. Here we 
see one of the uses of the obscurity of 
prophecy." 

" Yes," said Fanny, "I see that." 
"The manner of Christ s death was in 
accordance with his own predictions, and 
not what would have been naturally ex- 
pected from the nature of his pretended 
offence. He was accused of blasphemy ', the 
punishment for which, by the Jewish law, 
was stoning; and with this the Jews re- 
peatedly threatened him. John, 8 : 59, it is 
said, ' Then took they up stones to cast at 
him;' and in the tenth chapter of John, 
' Then the Jews took up stones again to 
cast at him. 5 Wheii Jesus asked, i Why do 
ye stone me?' they replied, 'For a good 
work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy.' 
Yet he was finally delivered up to the 
Romans, and crucified, in fulfilment of 



246 THE GUIDING STAR. 

what Christ had predicted to his disciples : 
'Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the 
Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the 
chief priests, and unto the scribes, and 
they shall condemn him to death, and shall 
deliver him to the Gentiles, to mock, and to 
scourge, and to crucify him ; and the third 
day he shall rise again,' " 

"It seems strange," remarked Fanny ? 
"that when the Jews were expecting a 
Messiah, and when so many prophecies 
directly pointed out Christ, they should 
have rejected him." 

"It is strange, and would be unaccount- 
able, but for the wickedness of the human 
heart. The secret of their rejection of 
Christ was, that he was not the kind of 
Messiah they wanted. They wished for a 
great temporal prince, who would deliver 
them from the Roman yoke, and exalt them 
to their former place as a nation, while he 
would wink at their moral corruption, and 
allow them to live as they liked. A poor, 
obscure, humble, patient, and holy Messiah, 



PROPHECY CONCERNING CHRIST. 247 

requiring from them the self-denial, spirit- 
uality, and zeal for God, of which he set 
them the example, was not at all to their 
minds." 

"But what did they suppose the prophe- 
cies meant which predicted just such things 
of him?" 

" That question it is impossible to answer. 
They probably overlooked and neglected 
that class of prophecies, and occupied them- 
selves with those only which spoke of 
Messiah as a prince and a ruler. And here 
I want you to observe a striking fact. The 
prophecies relating to Christ describe him in 
his two states of humiliation and exalta- 
tion, and appear, before their fulfilment, to 
be absolutely irreconcilable with each other. 
You may read some of the predictions 
which speak of him in his state of humilia- 
tion and suffering." 

James and Fanny read the following 

verses : — "He shall grow up before him as 

a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry 

ground; he hath no form nor comeliness, 
22 



248 THE GUIDING STAR. 

and when we shall see him, there is no 
beauty that we should desire him. He is 
despised and rejected of men ; a man of 
sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we 
hid, as it were, our faces from him ; he was 
despised, and we esteemed him not. His 
visage was marred more than any man. 
and his form more than the sons of men. 
And he shall be for a stone of stumbling, 
and for a rock of offence, to both houses of 
Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the in- 
habitants of Jerusalem. But I am a worm, 
and no man; a reproach of men, and 
despised of the people. All they that see 
me laugh me to scorn : they shoot out the 
lip; they shake the head, saying, He trusted 
on the Lord that he would deliver him; let 
him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 
— I am poured out like water, and all my 
bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax. 
it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My 
strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my 
tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and thou hast 
brought me into the dust of death. For 



PROPHECY CONCERNING CHRIST. 249 

dogs have compassed me; the assembly of 
the wicked have enclosed me ; they pierced 
my hands and my feet." 

M Now turn to some of the passages which 
speak of the Messiah in his character of 
prince and ruler." 

u There shall come a Star out of Jacob, 
and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel." — 
" For unto us a child is born, unto us a son 
is given, and the government shall be upon 
his shoulder ; and his name shall be called 
Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the 
everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. 
Of the increase of his government and peace 
there shall be no end, upon the throne of 
David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, 
and to establish it with judgment and with 
justice, from henceforth even forever." — 
"Out of thee (Bethlehem) sh^all come forth 
unto me he that is to be Ruler in Israel, 
whose goings forth have been from old, 
even from everlasting." — " The Lord hath 
said unto me, Thou art my Son ; this day 
have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I 



250 THE GUIDING STAR. 

shall give thee the heathen for thine inherit- 
ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
for thy possession. Thou shalt break them 
with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them in 
pieces as a potter's vessel." 

" You observe what opposite and appar- 
ently incompatible qualities and characters 
are brought together in these passages ; and 
how strong the evidence they furnish, by 
their fulfilment in the person of Christ, 
of their being dictated by Him who could 
alone foretell the end from the beginning, 
and who saith, 'My counsel shall stand, 
and I will do all my pleasure.' " 

" I do not see how the Jews could under- 
stand such contradictory prophecies," said 
Fanny. " Perhaps they were not so much 
to blame, after all." 

" They were to blame for having a wrong 
spirit and temper. If they had desired to 
know the truth, they would have been led 
into it by the Spirit of God, as were those 
who became Christ's disciples. But I have 
a passage marked here to read to you, some 



PROPHECY CONCERNING CHRIST. 251 

parts of which you may not fully under- 
stand, but whose eloquence and beauty I 
think you will in a measure appreciate. 

M i But not only are the long succession of 
prophecies and the independence in the 
delivery of them to be noticed ; we are to 
observe, further, as the inimitable Pascal 
remarks, that here is an entire people who 
announce the Messiah by all their institu- 
tions, usages, laws, ceremonies, the whole 
of their religion; this people subsist from 
the time of Moses to Christ, to give in a 
body their testimony to their assurances of 
his coming, from which nothing can divert 
them, however threatened or persecuted. 
Here is a national and religious polity, all 
the parts of which are symbols, in one way 
or other, of the kingdom of the Messiah. 
The priesthood, the tabernacle, the temple, 
the sacrifices, the festivals, are all repre- 
sentative of the same blessings, and unite 
with the predictions of the prophets to point 
out the same extraordinary person. * * * * 

To say that all these wonderful predictions, 

22* 



252 THE GUIDING STAR. 

accomplished in the Messiahship of Christ, 
prove a prophetic inspiration, and the truth 
of the revelation which it communicates, is 
to say little ; — they pour upon that revela- 
tion, and upon the Saviour, a flood of evi- 
dence and of glory, which is entirely in 
harmony with the unparalleled dignity of 
his person, and the infinite value of the 
blessings he came to procure for man. 7 

"I hope you perceive the force of these 
remarks, and the irresistible weight of the 
addition furnished by the types and shadows 
of the Jewish ritual to the chain of pro- 
phetical announcements of our Lord." 

" Yes, mother, I see it," said James; "the 
types and sacrifices were a kind of standing 
prophecy of Christ." 

"And how much plainer the prophecies 
become, as we go on!" said Fanny; "that 
first one given to Adam, ' The seed of the 
woman shall bruise the serpent's head,' was 
very obscure." 

"And now, my dear children, we have 
examined some of the principal evidences 



PROPHECY CONCERNING CHRIST. 253 

on which rests our belief in the Divine 
authority of the Scriptures, and of the 
religion they reveal. We first saw that a 
revelation was needed, and, because needed, 
therefore probable. We next inquired 
whether the Bible is such a revelation as 
we might expect Jehovah to give; and 
found that it was so, inasmuch as it har- 
monizes perfectly with the revelations made 
in nature and providence, and all its parts 
harmonize with each other. It is character- 
ized by a Divine majesty and sublimity ; it 
is perfectly and admirably adapted to the 
wants of man, throwing a new light on all 
his duties and relations, and revealing a 
mode of pardon and of regeneration in- 
finitely above human thought or reason. 
We found this admirable system originating 
in the life, miracles, death and resurrection, 
of the Son of God, whose claims to this 
Divine title were substantiated by a life of 
spotless perfection, by miracles of transcend- 
ent glory, by the transforming effects of his 
doctrines on those who embraced them, and 



260 THE GUIDING STAR. 

by a chain of prophecies, extending over a 
period of four thousand years, interwoven 
with a complicated and magnificent system 
of types and ceremonials, all converging 
and terminating in him, as their centre and 
end. The weight of evidence is irresistible ; 
it is such as would convince us, — nay, a 
thousandth part of it would convince us, in 
any matter relating to our temporal inter- 
ests. The Bible is true. There is a 
heaven and a hell * there is a law by which 
we must be judged; there is a Saviour 
ready to redeem us. It is a matter of life 
and death to each of us ; for c every one of 
us must give account of himself to God.' 
Let this blessed Book, my dear children, 
become your guide and your meditation; 
let its instructions be written upon the table 
of your hearts ; c so shall you find favor and 
good understanding in the sight of God and 



CATALOGUE 

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The attention of the public is invited to an examination of the merits of tha 
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MODERN FRENCH LITERATURE; By L. Raymond De 
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RELIGIOUS PROGRESS; 

DISCOURSES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 
CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 

BY WILLIAM It. WILLIAMS, D. D. 

12mo., Cloth ; price, 85 Cents. 



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LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN FOSTER, 

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BY J. E. RYLAND. 

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all lovers of true liberty and of a pure Christianity." — Providence Journal, 

" Mr. Magoon thinks boldly, and speaks frankly, and with a variety and 
freshness of illustration that never fail to command attention." — New 
York Tribune. 

" He considers Christianity in all its parts as essentially republican. He 
has maintained his position with great tact. It is a clear, striking, attrac- 
tive presentation of his views, and the reasons for them. It will excite 
attention, both from the subject itself, and from the manner in which it is 
handled." — Philadelphia Chronicle. 

"This book is one which the masses will read with avidity, and its pe- 
rusal, we think, will fire up the zeal of some Christian scholars." — Baptist 
Memorial. 



PROVERBS EOR THE PEOPLE: 

Or, Illustrations of practical Godliness, drawn from the Book of Wisdom, 
By E. L. Magoon. 

12mo. Price, 90 cents. 

•He is quaint, sententious. He has indeed the three great qualities. 
*pith, point, and pathos j ' and always enforces high and noble sentiments." 
— New York Recorder. 

" It is a popular manual of great practical utility." — Ch. Chronicle, Phila, 

" The subjects are so selected as to embrace nearly all the practical 
duties of life. The work, in consequence of this peculiar character, will 
he found extensively useful." — Rochester Democrat. 

" The work abounds with original and pithy matter, well adapted to en- 
gage the attention and to reform the life. We hope these discourses will 
Be extensively read." — Morning Star, Dover. 

" It is an excellent book for young people, and especially for young meD, 
wnidstthe temptations of business and pleasure." — Albany Express* 



THE WORKS OF JOHN HARRIS, D D. 



THE PRE-AD AMITE EARTH : Contributions to Theological 
Science. 12mo. Price 85 cents. 

"It is a book for thinking men." It opens new trains of thought to the 
reader — puts him in a new position to survey the wonders of God's works ; 
and compels Natural Science to bear her decided testimony in support of Divine 
Truth." — Philadelphia Ch. Observer. 

MAN PRIMEVAL ; Or, the Constitution and Primitive Condi* 
tionof the Human Being. A Contribution to Theological Sci- 
ence. With a finely engraved portrait of the author ; 12ma. 
cloth, price $1.25. 

V* This is the second volume of a series of works on Theological Scienee. 
The first was received with much favor — the present is a continuation of the 
principles which were seen holding their way through the successive kingdoms 
of primeval nature, and are here resumed and exhibited in their next higher 
application to individual man. 

" His copious and beautiful illustrations of the successive laws of the Divine 
Manifestation, have yielded us inexpressible delight." — Lond. Eclectic Review* 

THE GREAT COMMISSION ; Or, the Christian Church consti 
tuted and charged to convey the Gospel to the W T orld. A Prize 
Essay. With an Introductory Essay, by W. R. Williams, D.D. 
Sixth thousand. 12mo. Price $1.00. 

" Of the several productions of Dr. Harris,— all of them of great value, —that 
now before us is destined, probably, to exert the most powerful influence in 
forming the religious and missionary character of the coming generations. But 
the vast fund of argument and instruction comprised in these pages will excite 
the admiration and inspire the gratitude of thousands in our own land as well 
as in Europe. Every clergyman and pious and reflecting layman ought to pos- 
sess the volume, and make it familiar by repeated perusal."— Boston Recorder. 

THE GREAT TEACHER; Or, Characteristics of our Lord's 
Ministry. With an Introductory Essay, by H. Humphrey, D.D. 
Tenth thousand. 12mo, Price 85 cents. 

" The book itself must have cost much meditation, much communion on the 
bosom of Jesus, and much prayer. Its style is, like the country which gave it 
birth, beautiful, varied, finished, and everywhere delightful. But the style of 
this work is its smallest excellence. It will be read : it ought to be read. It will 
find its way to many parlors, and add to the comforts of many a happy fireside. 
The reader will rise from each chapter, not able, perhaps, to carry with him 
many striking remarks or apparent paradoxes, but he will have a sweet im- 
pression made upon his soul, like that which soft and touching music makes 
when every thing about it is appropriate. The writer pours forth a clear and 
beautiful light, like that of the evening lighthouse, when it sheds its ravs upon 
the sleeping waters, and covers them with a surface of gold. We can have no 
sympathy with a heart which yields not to impressions delicate and holy, 
which the perusal of this work will naturally make." — Hampshire Gazette. 

MISCELLANIES ; Consisting principally of Sermons and Essays. 
With an introductory Essay and notes, by J. Belcher, D.D. 
16mo. Price 75 cents. 

" Some of these essays are among the finest in the language ; and the warmth 
and energy of religious feeling manifested, render them peculiarly the treasure 
of the closet and the Christian fireside." — Bangor Gazette. 

MAMMON ; Or, Covetousness, the Sin of the Christian Church. 
A Prize Essay. 18mo. Price 45 cents. Twentieth thousand. 

ZEBULON ; Or, the Moral Claims of Seamen stated and en- 
forced. 18mo. Price 25 cents. 

THE ACTIVE CHKISTIAN ; Containing "The Witnessing 
Church," etc. 32mo. Price 31 cents. 



CHURCH HISTORY. — POLITY AND MEMBERSHIP. 



THE APOSTOLICAL AND PRIMITIVE CHURCH ; Popular 
in its government and simple in its worship. By Lyman 
Coleman. With an introductory essay, by Dr. Augustus 
Neandee, of Berlin. Second Edit. 12mo. cloth. Price $1.2&. 
From the Professors in Andover Theological Seminary. 
" The undersigned are pleased to hear that you are soon to publish a new 
edition of the ' Primitive Church,' by Lyman Coleman. They regard this 
volume as the result of extensive and original research ; as embodying very 
important materials for reference, much sound thought and conclusive argu- 
ment. In their estimation, it may both interest and instruct the intelligent 
layman, may be profitably used as a Text Book for Theological Students, 
and should "especially form a part of the libraries of clergymen. The intro- 
duction, by Neandee, is of itself sufficient to recommend the volume to 
the literary public." Leonard Woods, Bela B. Edwards, 

Ralph Emerson, Edward A. Park. 

THE CHURCH MEMBER'S HAND BOOK. A Guide to 
the Doctrines and Practices of Baptist Churches. By Rev. 
William Crowell. 18mo. Cloth. Price 37J cents. 

" We have never met with a book of this size that contained so full and complete a 
synopsis of the Doctrines and Practice of the Baptist, or any other church, as this. Mr- 
Crowell is one of the ablest writers in the denomination, and if (.here is a subject in the 
whole range of Christianity which he is pre-eminently qualified to discuss, it is the one 
before us. The 'Hand Book' is not an abridgment of the ' Church Member's Man- 
ual,' by the same author, but is written expressly as a brief, plain guide to young mem- 
bers of the church. It appears to have been prepared with much care and labor, and 
is just such a book as is needed by every young church member; we might safely add, 
and by most of the older members in the denomination ; for there is a vast amount of 
information in it that will be found of practical use to all." — Christian Secretary* 

" It is concise, clear, and comprehensive ; and, as an exposition of ecclesiastical prin- 
ciples and practice, is worthy of careful study of all the young members of our churches. 
We hope it may be widely circulated, and that the youthful thousands of our Israel 
may become familiar with its pages." — Watchman and Reflector. 

THE CHURCH IN EARNEST; By John Angell James. 

18mo. cloth ; price 50 cents. 

** A very seasonable publication. The church universal needs a re-awakening 
to its high vocation, and tins is a book to effect, so far as human intellect can, the 
much desired resuscitation. " — JS T . Y. Com. Adv. 

"We are glad to see that this subject has arresled the pen of Mr. James. We 
welcome and commend it. Let it be scattered like autumn leaves. We believe 
its perusal will do much to impress a conviction of the high mission of the Chris- 
tian, and much to arouse the Christian to fulfil it." — N. Y. Recorder. 

** We rejoice that this work has been republished in this country, and we caa- 
not too strongly commend it to the serious perusal of the churches of every 
name." — Christian Alliance. 

" Mr. James's writings all have one object, to do execution. He writes under 

the impulse Do something, do it. He studies not to be a profound or learned, 

but a practical writer. He aims to raise the standard of piety, holiness in the 
heart, and holiness of life. The influence which this work will exert on the 
church must be highly salutary." — Boston Recorder. 

THE CHURCH MEMBER'S GUIDE, By Rev. J. A. James. 

Edited by Rev. J. 0. Choules. New Edition ; with an Intro- 
ductory Essay, by R«v. H. Wlnslow. 18mo. cloth. Price 3S 
cents. 

A pastor writes — "I sincerely wish that every professor of religion in the 
land may possess this excellent manual. I am anxious that every member 
of my church should possess it, and shall be happy to promote its circulation 
still more extensively." 

" The spontaneous effusion of our heart, on laying the book down, was, — 
may every church-member in our land soon possess this book, and be blessed 
with all the happiness which conformity to its evangelic sentiments and 
directions is calculated to confer." — Christian Secretary. 



THE WORKS OF JENKYN— CHURCH— KEMPIS. 



THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT, in its relation to God 
and the Universe. By Thomas W* Jenkyn, D.D. 12mo» 
Cloth. Price 85 cents. 

"We have examined this work with profound interest and become deeply 
Impressed with its value. Its style is lucid, its analysis perfect, its spirit and 
tendency eminently evangelical. We have nowhere else seen the aton^ 
ment so clearly defined, or vindicated on grounds so appreciable." 

New York Recorder. 

"Asa treatise on the grand relation of the Atonement, it is a book which 
may be emphatically said to contain the ' seeds of things,' the elements of 
mightier and nobler contributions of thought respecting the sacrifice of Christ, 
than any modern production. It is characterized by highly original and 
dense trains of thought, which make the reader feel that he is holding com- 
munion with a mind that can ' mingle with the universe.' We consider this 
volume as setting the long and fiercely agitated question, as to the extent of 
the Atonement, completely at rest. Posterity will thank the author till the 
latest ages, for his illustrious arguments." — New York Evangelist. 

THE UNION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH. 

in the Conversion of the World. By Thomas W. Jeskyn, 
D.D. 12mo., cloth. Price 85 cents. 

" The discussion is eminently scriptural, placing its grand theme, the union 
of the Holy Spirit and the Church in the conversion of the world, in a very 
clear and affecting light." — Christian Watchman. 

" A very excellent work upon a very important subject. The author seemfl 
to have studied it in all its bearings, as presented to his contemplation in the 
eacred volume." — London Evangelical Magazine. 

" Fine talent, sound learning, and scriptural piety pervade every page. It is 
impossible that it can be read without producing great effects. Mr. Jenkyn 
deserves the thanks of the whole body of Christians for a book which will 
greatly benefit the world and the church." — London Evangelist. 

&NTIOCH ; Or, Increase of Moral Power in the Church of 
Christ. By Rev. P. Church. With an Introductory Essay, 
by Baron Stow, D.D. 18mo., cloth. Price 50 cents. 

"It is a book of close and consecutive thought, and treats of subjects which 
are of the deepest interest, at the present time, to the churches of this country 
The author is favorably known to the religious public, as an original thinker 
and a forcible writer." — Christian Reflector. 

" By some this book will be condemned, by many it will be read with 
pleasure, because it analyzes and renders tangible, principles that have been 
vaguely conceived in many minds, reluctantly promulgated, and hesitatingly 
believed. We advise our brethren to read the book, and judge for them- 
selves." — Baptist Record. 

" It is the work of an original thinker, on a subject of great practical interest 
to the church. It is replete with suggestions, which, in our view, are emi- 
nently worthy of consideration." — Phila. Christian Observer. 

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. By Thomas a Kempis. 
With an Introductory Essay, by T. Chalmers, D.D. A new 
and improved edition. Edited by H. Malcom, D.D. 18mo., 
cloth. Price 38 cents. 

THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST. By Ernest 
Sartorius, D. D. Translated from the German, by Rev. 
0. S. Stearns, A. M. Cloth. 42 cents. 

" A work of much ability, and presenting the argument in a style that 
will be new to most American readers, it will deservedly attract atten 
tion." — JV. Y. Observer. 



PHILOSOPHY AND PHILOLOGY. 



ANCIENT LITERATURE AND ART ; Or, Essays on Clas- 
sical Studies, with the Biography and Correspondence of 
Eminent Philologists. By Barxas Sears, of Newton; 
B. B. Edwards, of Andover; and C. C. Feltox, of Cam- 
bridge. 12mo. Cloth. Price, #1 25. 

" The object of the accomplished gentlemen who have engaged in its prepa- 
ration has been, to foster and extend among educated men, in this country, the 
already growing interest in classical studies. The design is a noble and 
generous one, and has been executed with a taste and good sense that do honor 
both to the writers and the publishers. The book is one which deserves a place 
in the library of every educated man. To those now engaged in classical study 
it cannot fail to be highly useful, while to the more advanced scholar, it will 
open new sources of interest and delight in the unforgotten pursuits of his 
earlier days." — Providence Journal. 

GESENIUS'S HEBREW GRAMMAR. Translated from the 
Eleventh German Edition. By T. J. Coxaxt, Prof, of He- 
brew and of Biblical Criticism and Interpretation in the Theol. 
Institution at Hamilton, N. Y. With a Course of Exercises in 
Hebrew Grammar, and a Hebrew Chrestomathy, prepared by 
the Translator. 8vo. cloth. Price $2.00. 

"*** Special reference has been had in the arrangement, illustrations, the 
addition of the Course of Exercises, the Chrestomathy, &c, to adapt it to the 
wants of those who may wish to pursue the study of Hebrew without the aid 
of a teacher. 

LIFE OF GODFREY WILLIAM VON LIEBNITZ. On the 

basis of the German Work of Dr. G. E. Guhrauer. By Johx 
M. Mackie. 16mo. cloth. Price 75 cents. 

M The peculiar relation which Liebnitz sustained during his life to Locke 
and Newton may partly account for the fact that a biograpby of this great man 
has been so long "wanting in the English language. . . . \Ye commend this 
book, not only to scholars and men of science, but to all our readers who love 
to contemplate the life and labors of a great and good man. It merits the 
special notice of all who are interested in the business of education, and 
deserves a place by the side of Brewster's Life of Newton, in all the libraries 
of our schools, academies, and literary institutions."— Christian Watchman. 

"There is perhaps no case on record of a single man who has so gone the 
rounds of human knowledge as did Liebnitz: he was not a recluse, like Spi- 
noza and Kant, but went from capital to capital, and associated with kings 
and premiers. All branches of thought were interesting to him, and he seems 
in pursuing all to have been actuated not by ambition, but by a sincere 
desire to-promote the knowledge and welfare of mankind. — Christian World. 

LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS, The Founder of the State of 
Rhode Island. By Wm. Gammell, Prof, in Brown University. 
With a Likeness. 12mo. cloth. Price 75 cents. 

"Mr. Gammell's fine belles-letters attainments have enabled him to present 
his distinguished subject in the most captivating light. So far as the work 
touches controversies which reach and influence the present times, it is our 
privilege as well as duty to read it as a private citizen, and not as a public jour- 
nalist. Its mechanical execution is in the usually neat style of the respectable 
publishers"— Christian Alliance. 

** This life has many virtues — brevity, simplicity, fairness. Though written 
by a Rhode Island man, and warm in its approval of Roger Williams, it is 
not unjust to his Puritan opponents, but only draws such deductions as were 
unavoidable from the premises. It is the life of a good man, and we read 
with grateful complacency the commendation of his excellences." 

Ohristian World* 



WORKS ON MISSIONS. 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE; A Collection of Discourses 
on Christian Missions, by American Authors. Edited by 
Baron Stow, D.D. 12mo., cloth. Price 85 cents. 

** If we desired to put into the hands of a foreigner a faL" exhibition of the 
capacity and spirit of the American church, we would give him this volume. 
You have here thrown together a few discourses, preached from time to time, 
by different individuals, of different denominations, as circumstances have 
demanded them ; and you see the stature and feel the pulse of the American 
Church in these discourses with a certainty not to be mistaken. 
" " You see the high talent of the American church. We venture the asser- 
tion, that no nation in the world has such an amount of forceful, available 
talent in its pulpit. The energy, directness, scope, and intellectual spirit of 
the American church is wonderful. In this book, the discourses by Dr* 
Beecher, Pres. Wayland, and the Rev. Dr. Stone of the Episcopal church, are 
among the very highest exhibitions of logical correctness, and burning, popu- 
lar fervor. This volume will have a wide circulation."— The New Englander. 

" This work contains fifteen sermons on Missions, by Rev. Drs. Wayland, 
Griffin, Anderson, Williams, Beecher, Miller, Fuller, Beman, Stone, Mason, 
and by Rev. Messrs. Kirk, Stow, and Ide. It is a rich treasure, which ought 
to be in the possession of every American Christian." — Carolina Baptist. 

THE GREAT COMMISSION ; Or, the Christian Church consti- 
tuted and charged to convey the Gospel to the world. A Prize 
Essay. By John Harris, D.D. With an Introductory Essay, 
bv W. R. Williams, D.D. Sixth thousand. 12mo., cloth. 
Price $1.00. 

" His plan is original and comprehensive. In filling it up the author has 
interwoven facts with rich and glowing illustrations, and with trains of 
thought that are sometimes almost resistless in their appeals to the conscience. 
The work is not more distinguished for its arguments and its genius, than for 
the spirit of deep and fervent piety that pervades it." — The Dayspring. 

" Its style is remarkably chaste and elegant. Its sentiments richly and fer- 
vently evangelical, its argumentation conclusive." — Zioii's Herald, Boston. 

"To recommend this work to the friends of missions of all denominations 
would be but faint praise ; the author deserves and will undoubtedly receive 
the credit of having applied a new lever to that great moral machine which, 
by the blessing of God, is destined to evangelize the world." 

Christian Secretary, Hartford. 

" We hope that the volume will be attentively and prayerfully read by the 
whole church, which are clothed with the " Great Commission " to evangelize 
the world, and that they will be moved to an immediate discharge of its high 
and momentous obligations. — N. E. Puritan, Boston. 

THE KAREN APOSTLE ; Or, Memoir of Ko Thah-Byu, the 
first Karen convert with notices concerning his Nation. By the 
Rev. Francis Mason. Edited by Prof. H. J. Ripley. Fifth 
thousand. 18mo., cloth. Price 25 cents. 

" This is a work of thrilling interest, containing the history of a remarkable 
man, and giving, also, much information respecting the Karen Mission, here- 
tofore unknown in this country. It gives an account, which must be attrac- 
tive, from its novelty, of a people that have been but little known and visited 
by missionaries, till within a few years. The baptism of Ko Thah-Byu, in 
1828, was the beginning of the mission, and at the end of these twelve years, 
twelve hundred and seventy Karens are officially reported as members of the 
churches, in good standing. The mission has been carrier 1 zn pre-eminently 
by the Karens themselves, and there is no doubt, from much touching evi- 
dence contained in this volume, that they are a people peculiarly susceptible 
to religious impressions." 



MEMOIRS OF DISTINGUISHED MISSIONARIES. 



MEMOIR OF ANN H. JUDSON, late Missionary to Burmah. 

By Rev. James D. Knowles. With a likeness. 12mo., fine 
Edition, price 85 cents. 18mo. Price 58 cents. 

" We are particularly gratified to perceive a new edition of the Memoirs of 
Mr?. Judson. She was an honor to our country — one of the most noble- 
spirited of her sex. It cannot, therefore, be surprising, that so many editions, 
End so many thousand copies of her life and adventures have been sold. 
The name — the long career of suffering — the self-sacrificing spirit of Ihe 
retired country-girl, have spread over the whole world ; and the heroism of 
her apostleship and almost martyrdom, stands out a living and heavenly 
beacon-fire, amid the dark midnight of ages, and human history and exploits. 
She was the first woman who resolved to become a missionary to heathen 
countries." —American Traveller. 

" This is one of the most interesting pieces of female biography which has 
ever come under our notice. No quotation, which our limits allow, would do 
justice to the facts, and we must, therefore, refer our readers to the volume 
itself. It ought to be immediately added to every family library." 

London Miscellany. 

MEMOIR OF GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN, Late Missionary 
to Burmah, containing much intelligence relative to the Bur- 
man mission. By Rev. Aloxzo King. Embellished with a 
Likeness ; a beautiful Vignette, representing the baptismal 
scene just before his death ; and a drawing of his tomb. By 
Rev. H. Malcom, D.D. 12mo. Price 75 cents. 

44 One of the brightest luminaries of Burmah is extinguished — dear brother 
Boardman is gone to his eternal rest. He fell gloriously at the head of his 
troops — in the arms of victory, — thirty-eight wild Karens having been 
brought into the camp of king Jesus since the beginning of the year, besides 
the thirty-two that were brought in during the two preceding years. Dis- 
abled by" wounds, he was obliged, through the whole of the last expedition, to 
be carried on a litter ; but his presence was a host, and the Holy Spirit accom- 
panied his dying whispers with almighty influence." — Rev. Dr. Judson. 

MEMOIR OF MRS. HENRIETTA SHUCK, The first American 
Female Missionary to China. By Rev. J. B. Jeter. With a 
Likeness. Fourth thousand. 18mo. Price 50 cents. 

" The style of the author is sedate and perspicuous, such as we might 
expect from his known piety and learning, his attachment to missions, and 
the amiable lady whose memory he embalms. The book will be extensively 
read and eminently useful, and thus the ends sought by the author will be 
happily secured. We think we are not mistaken in this opinion. Those 
who are interested in China, that large opening field for the glorious con- 
quests of divine truth, will be interested in this Memoir. To the friends of 
missions generally, the book is commended, as worthy of an attentive peru- 
sal." — The Family Visitor, Boston* 

MEMOIR OF REV. WILLIAM G. CROCKER, Late Missionary 
in West Africa, among the Bassas, Including a History of the 
Mission. By R. B. Medbeby. With a likeness. 18mo. 
Price 62K cents. 

■ Our acquaintance with the excellent brother, who is the subject of thi« 
Memoir, will be long and fondly cherished. This volume, prepared by a lady, 
of true taste and talent, and of' a kindred spirit, while it is but a just tribute 
to his worth, will, we doabt not, furnish lessons of humble and practical piety, 
and will give such facts relative to the mission to which he devoted his life, as 
(o render it worthy a distinguished place among the religious and missionary 
biography which has so much enriched the family of God." - Watchman. 



REV. HARVEY NEWCOMB'S WORKS. 



HOW TO BE A LADY ; A Book for Girls, containing useful 
hints on the formation of character. Fifth thousand. ISmo., 
gilt cloth. Price 50 cents. 

"Having daughters of his own, and having been many years employed in 
writing for the voung, he hopes to be able to offer some good advice, in an 
entertaining way, for girls or misses, between the ages of eight and fifteeni. 
His object is, to assist them in forming their characters upon the best model 
that they may become well-bred, intelligent, refined, and good ; and then they 
will be real ladies, in the highest sense." — Preface. 

" They are full of wholesome and judicious counsels, which are well fitted to 
preserve the young from the numberless evils to which they are exposed, and 
to mould them to virtue and usefulness. There is a directness and earnestness 
pervading the whole, which must secure for it a ready access to the youthful 
mind and heart." — Albany Argus. 

HOW TO BE A MAN ; A Book for Boys, containing useful 
hints on the formation of character. Fifth thousand. 18mo. ; 
gilt cloth. Price 50 cents. 

"My design in writing has been to contribute something towards forming 
the character of those who are to be our future electors, legislators, governors, 
judges, ministers, lawyers, and physicians, — after the best model. It is 
intended for bo} r s — or, if you please, for young gentlemen, in early youth^ 
from eight or ten to fifteen or sixteen years of age." — Prefo.cc. 

" They contain wise and important counsels and cautions, adapted to the 
young, and made entertaining by the interesting style and illustrations of the 
author. They are fine mirrors, in which are reflected the prominent linear 
ments of the Christian young gentleman and young lady. The execution of 
the works is of the first order, and the books will afford elegant and most prof- 
itable presents for the young." — American Pulpit. 

ANECDOTES FOR BOY§ ; Entertaining Anecdotes and Narra- 
tives, illustrative of principles and character. 18mo., gilt cloth. 
Price 42 cents. 

" Nothing has a greater interest for a youthful mind than a well-told story, 
and no medium of conveying moral instructions so attractive or so successful. 
The influence of all such stories is far more powerful when the child is assured 
that they are true. The book before us is conducted upon these ideas. It is 
made up of a series of anecdotes, every one of which inculcates some exceV 
lent moral lesson. We cannot too highly approve of the book, or too strongly 
recommend it to parents." — Western Continent, Baltimore. 

ANECDOTES FOR GIRLS ; Entertaining Anecdotes and Narra- 
tives, illustrative of principles and character. 18mo., gilt cloth. 
Price 42 cents. 

" There is a charm about these two beautiful volumes not to be mistaken. 
They are deeply interesting and instructive, without being fictitious. Th* 
anecdotes are many, short, and spirited, with a mcral drawn from each, some- 
what after the manner of T~^u ; and no youth can read them without finding 
something therein adapted to every age, condition, and duty of life. We 
commend it to families and schools." — Albany Spectator. 

" He desires to instruct rather than to dazzle ; to infuse correct principles 
into the minds and the heart of the young, than cater to a depraved appetite 
for romantic excitement. We cordially commend these volumes to all 
parents and children." — Christian Alliance. 

CHRISTIANITY DEMONSTRATED in four distinct and inde- 
pendent series of proofs ; with an explanation of the Types and 
Prophecies concerning the Messiah. 12mo. Price 75 cents. 

%* Tb'2 obj^t of the writer has been to classify and condense the evidence, 
that the whr^.e force of each particular kind might be seen at one view. He 
has also air,er"_ to render the work practical, so as to have it a book to be read 
as well i\? stydhd. The Types and Prophecies furnish an important species 
of evidono*. «.nd are rich in instruction upon the way of Salvation. 



W. & R. CHAMBERS'S WORKS. 



CHAMBER'S CYCLOPJEDIA OF ENGLISH LITERATURE; 

A selection of the choicest productions of English Authors, 
from the earliest to the present time ; Connected by a Criti- 
cal and Biographical History. Edited by Robert Chambers. 
In two vols, octavo, with upwards of 300 elegant illustrations. 
Price, in cloth, $5.00. 

V The Publishers of the AMERICAN Edition of this valuable work desire 
to state, that, besides the numerous pictorial illustrations in the English Edition, 
they have greatly enriched the work by the addition of fine steel and mezzotint 
engravings of the heads of Shakspeare, Addison, Byron ; a full length portrait 
of Dr. Johnson, and a beautiful scenic representation of Oliver Goldsmith and 
Dr. Johnson. These elegant additions together with superior paper and bind- 
ing must give this a deckled preference over all other editions. 

" We hail with peculiar pleasure the appearance of this work, and more espec- 
ially its republication in this country at a price which places it within the 
reach of a great number of readers, and for which they can expect to be remu- 
nerated only by a very extensive sale." 

" The selections given by Mr. Chambets from the works of the early English 
writers are copious, and judiciously made. ***** We shall conclude as we 
commenced, with expressing a hope that the publication which has called 
forth our remarks will exert an influence in directing the attention of the 
public to the literature of our forefathers." — North American Review. 

CHAMBERS'S MISCELLANY of Useful and Entertaining 
Knowledge, with elegant illustrative engravings. Edited by 
William Chambers. Ten volumes, cloth. Price $10.00 

V The design of the Miscellany is to supply the increasing demand for 
useful, instructive, and entertaining reading, and to bring all the aids of litera- 
ture to bear on the cultivation of the feelings and understanding of the people— • 
to impress correct views on important moral and social questions — suppress 
every species of strife and savagery — cheer the lagging and desponding by the 
relation of tales drawn from the imagination of popular writers — rouse the 
fancy by descriptions of interesting foreign scenes — give a zest to every-day 
occupations by ballad and lyrical poetry — in short, to furnish an unobtrusive 
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attained through the instrumentality of books. 

CHAMBERS'S LIBRARY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. A series of 
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ORLA.NDINO : A Story of Self-Denial. By Maria Edgewortth. 
THE LITTLE ROBINSON : And other Tales. 
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TRUTH AND TRUST. Jervis Ryland — Victor and Lisette. 
ALFRED IN INDIA. CLEVER BOYS. 

MCRAL COURAGE. TALES OF OLD ENGLAND. 

05^ Other volumes are in preparation. 



KIPLEY'S NOTES. — CRUDEX'S CONCORDANCE. 



THE FOUR GOSPELS, WITH NOTES. Chiefly Explanatory 
intended principally for Sabbath School Teachers and Bible 
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Ripley. With a Map of Palestine. Eighth thousand. 12mo^ 
half morocco. Price $1.25. 

" The undersigned, having examined Professor Ripley's Notes on the Gos- 
pels, can recommend them with confidence to all who need such helps in the 
study of the sacred Scriptures. Those passages which all can understand are 
lift ' without note or comment,' and the principal labor is devoted to the 
explanation of such parts as need to be explained and rescued from the per- 
versions of errorists, both the ignorant and the learned. The practical sug- 
gestions at the close of each chapter, are not the least valuable portion of the 
work. Most cordially, for the sake of truth and righteousness, do we wish for 
these Notes a wide circulation." 

Baron - Stow, R. H. Neale, R. Tuknbull, 

Daniel Shakp, J. W. Parker, N. Coi.ver, 

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explanations of difficult passages. The work cannot fail to be received with 
favor." — Christian Reflector, Boston. 

CRUDEN'S CONDENSED CONCORDANCE. A Complete 
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den, M.A. A New and Condensed Edition, with an Introduc- 
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in Boards, $1.25 ; Sheep, $1.50. 

*** This edition is printed from English plates, and is a full and fair copy 
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passage. 

" Those who have been acquainted with the various works of this kind 
now in use, well know that Cruden's Concordance far excels all others. Yet 
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adapted to the purposes of a Concordance, by the erasure of superfluous 
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former larger and expensive edition." — Boston Recorder. 

" The new, condensed, and cheap work prepared from the voluminous and 
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Advent Herald, Bostov* 

" "We cannot see but it is, in all points, as valuable a book of reference, fov 
ministers and Bible students, as the larger edition." — Christian Reflector. 



MOTHERS OF THE WISE AND GOOD. 

BY JABEZ BURNS, D. D. 



3&ecommentratt<m*. 

From Rev. J. Angell James. 
11 It is a useful and valuable work, replete with instruction and en- 
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culation. I make much use of it in my periodical meetings, among 
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" I am constrained to say that it is full of interest, and that of the 
most pleasing and useful kind. It presents to the reader a bouquet of 
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and morals, of incidents and principles, at once delightful and edifying. 
And as a gallery of 4 elect ladies' and their sons, it would be a profita- 
ble study for all who fill the important relations of son and mother." 

From Rev. W. W. Robinson, M.A. 
" I earnestly hope that this little volume, which is a suitable present 
to the Mothers of England, will have a wide circulation ; and that its 
perusal will be accompanied by the powerful aid of the Holy Spirit." 

From Rev. Henry Grey, D.D. 

" It has afforded pleasure to Mrs. Grey and myself. It appears to me 
a valuable selection of specimens of the success attending the faithful 
performance of an important class of duties ; and will, I trust, prove 
instructive and encouraging to many mothers, showing in so many in- 
stances the happy effect of their prayers and exertions." 

From Rev. J. P. Dobson. 

"Would that all mothers — young mothers especially — had such a 
volume in their possession, and could be prevailed upon to make it a 
vade mecum, in the training of their infant charge. I rejoice to speak of 
it wherever I can, and shall be ready and glad to avail myself of every 
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entiously and earnestly." 

From the Free Church Magazine. 
" We have lingered over the pages of this most attractive book, with 
feelings of interest, and tenderness, and affection, which we cannot ex- 
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of our heart, while in some instances we scarcely knew whether we 
read the pages of the work before us, or those of memory. It is well 
"that instances of the precious influences of maternal piety, prudence, 
and love, should be recorded ; but who can tell their inestimable value? 
The mothers of the wise and good ! yes, were there more such mothers, 
we might confidently expect more such sons." 



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the writings of J. A. James. 

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who Mourn. Edited by Rev. R. W. Griswold. 

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VALUABLE SCIENTIFIC WORKS 

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GOULD AND LINCOLN; 59 WASHINGTON ST., BOSTON 



LAKE SUPERIOR, 

HS PHYSICAL CHARACTER, VEGETATION, AND ANIMALS, COMP- 
EARED WITH OTHER AND SIMILAR REGIONS, 

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"WITH A NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION AND ILLUSTRATIONS, 

BY J. E. CABOT. 
One Volume, octavo. Cloth, price $3,50. 

" The character of these scientific labors of Prof. Agassiz is eminently 
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Literary World. 

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THE ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY; 

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gentlemen. 



FOOT-PRINTS OF THE CREATOR; 

OR, THE ASTEROLEPIS OF STROMNESS. 
BY HUGH MILLER. 

WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS, FROM THIRD LONDON EDITION. 

WITH A MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR BY LOUIS AGASSIZ. 

12mo., cloth ; price, $1,25. 

"The 'Foot-prints' is not surpassed by any modern work." — North 
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soning at once comprehensive in scope, strong in grasp, and pointedly 
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one of the most perfect refutations of error, and defences of truth, that 
ever exact science has produced." — Free Church Magazine. 

" Dr. Buckland, at a meeting of the British Association, said he had 
never been so much astonished in his life, by the powers of any man, as 
he had been by the geological descriptions of Mr. Miller. That wonder- 
ful man described these objects with a facility which made him ashamed 
of the comparative meagreness and poverty of his own descriptions in 
the ' Bridgewater Treatise,' which had cost him hours and days of 
labor. He icould give his left hand to possess such powers of description as 
this man; and if it pleased Providence to spare his useful life, he, if any 
one, would certainly render science attractive and popular, and do equal 
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times to eloquence, and always impressing the reader with the idea that 
he is brought in contact with great thoughts. Where it is necessary, 
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work forms one of the best defences of Truth that science can produce." 
— Albany State Register. 

" The ' Foot-prints of the Creator' is not only a good but a great book. 
All who have read the ' Vestiges of Creation ' should study the ' Foot- 
prints of the Creator.' This volume is especially worthy the attention of 
those who are so fearful of the sceptical tendencies of natural science. 
We expect this volume will meet with a very extensive sale. It should 
be placed in every Sabbath school library, and at every Christian fire- 
side." — Boston Traveller. 

" Mr. Miller's style is remarkably pleasing ; his mode of popularizing 
geological knowledge unsurpassed, perhaps unequalled 5 and the deep 
vein of reverence for divine revelation pervading all, adds interest and 
value to the volume." — JV. Y. Com. Advertiser. 

" The publishers have again covered themselves with honor, by giving 
ttt the American public, with the author's permission, an elegant reprint 
(if a foreign work of science. We earnestly bespeak for this work a wide 
and free circulation, among all who love science much and ieligion 
more." — Puritan Recorder. 

" We have never read a work of the kind with so much interest. If* 
statements of fact and its descriptions are remarkably clear. From mi- 
nute particulars it leads us on to broad views of the creation ; and th* 
earth becomes the witness of a succession of miracles, as wonderful as 
any recorded in the Scriptures." — Christian Register. 

" This splendid work should be read by every man in our land. We 
recommend the study of this science to our young men : let them ar> 
proach it with open, and not unfaithful breasts, — for amid our mountains, 
irana and tall, our boundless plains, and flowing rivers, vast and virgin 
lelds for exploration yet present themselves." — Scientific American. 



THE OLD RED SANDSTONE; 

OR, NEW WALKS IN AN OLD FIELD. 
BY HUGH MILLER. 

FROM THE FOURTH LONDON EDITION — ILLUSTRATED. 

12mo, cloth, price $1,25. 



A writer, in noticing Mr. Miller's " First Impressions of England and 
the People," in the New Englander, of May, 1850, commences by saying, 
u We presume it is not necessary formally to introduce Hugh Miller to 
our readers ; the author of ' The Old Red Sandstone ' placed himself, by 
that production, which was first, among the most successful geologists 
and the best writers of the age. We well remember with what mingled 
amotion and delight we first read that work. Rarely has a more re- 
markable book come from the press. * * For, besides the important 
contributions which it makes to the science of Geology, it is written in a 
style which places the author at once among the most accomplished 
writers of the age. * * He proves himself to be in prose what Burns 
has been in poetry. We are not extravagant in saying that there is no 
geologist living who, in the descriptions of the phenomena of the science, 
has united such accuracy of statement with so much poetic beauty of 
expression. We do not hesitate to place Mr. Miller in the front rank 
of English prose writers. His style has a classic purity and elegance, 
which remind one of Goldsmith and Irving, while there is an ease and a 
naturalness in the illustrations of the imagination, which belong only to 
men of true genius." 

A writer in the American Traveller, in noticing the work, says, — 

" The admirer of scenery, of all that is picturesque in nature, cannot 
fail to be delighted with his graphic delineations. Above all, the good 
citizen, the religious man, will read this highly interesting volume with 
no ordinary satisfaction." 

" The excellent and lively work of our meritorious, self-taught country- 
man, Mr. Miller, is as admirable for the clearness of its descriptions, and 
the sweetness of its composition, as for the purity and gracefulnes which 
pervade it." — Edinburgh Review. 

" This admirable work evinces talent of the highest order, a deep and 
healthful moral feeling, a perfect command of the finest language, and a 
beautiful union of philosophy and poetry. No geologist can peruse this 
volume without instruction and delight." — Silliman' 's American Journal 
of Science. 

u Mr. Miller's exceedingly interesting book on this formation is just 
the sort of work to render any subject popular. It is written in a remark- 
ably pleasing style, and contains a wonderful amount of information." — 
Westminster Review. 

" In Mr. Miller's charming little work will be found a very graphic de- 
scription of the Old Red Fishes. I know not of a more fascinating volume 
on any branch of British geology." — MantelVs Medals of Creation. 

" Mr. Miller had elevated himself to a position which any man, in any 
sphere of life, might well envy He had seen some of his papers on 
geology, written in a style so beautiful and poetical as to throw plain 
geologists, like himself, in the shade." — Sir Roderick Murchison. 

" A geological work, small in size, unpretending in spirit and manner ; 
its contents, the conscientious narration of fact ; its style, the beautiful 
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interest superior to that of a novel." — Dr. J. Pye Smith. 



THE POETRY OF SCIENCE; 

OR, STUDIES OF THE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA OF NATURE 
BY ROBERT HUNT, 

AUTHOR OF "RESEARCHES ON LIGHT," &0. 

12mo, cloth, price $1,25. 



NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 

" The design of Mr. Hunt's volume is striking and good. The subject 
is very well dealt with, and the object very well attained ; it displays a 
fund of knowledge, and is the work of an eloquent and earnest man." — 
The Examiner ) London. 

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in an exceedingly captivating style." — New York Commercial Advertiser* 

" We are heartily glad to see this interesting work re-published in 
America. It is a book that is a book." — Scientific American. 

" It is one of the most readable, interesting, and instructive works of 
the kind that we have ever seen." — Philadelphia Christian Observer. 



NEW REVISED EDITION. 

PRINCIPLES OF ZOOLOGY, 

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ARRANGEMENT OF THE RACES OF ANIMALS, LIVING AND EX- 
/ TINCT J WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. FOR THE 

USE OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 

Part I. — Comparative Physiology. 

BY L. AGASSIZ AND A. A. GOULD. 

12mo, cloth, price $1,00. 

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IN PREPARATION, 

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THE EARTH AND MAN: 

Lectures on Comparative Physical Geography, in its Relation to the History 

of Mankind. 

Br Arnold Guyot, Prof. Phys. Geo. and Hist., Neuchatel. 

Translated from the French by Prof. C. C. Felton. With Illustration* 

12/no. Price, $1 25. 



" The work is one of high merit, exhibiting a wide range of knowledge, 
great research, and a philosophical spirit of investigation. Its perusal wil! 
well repay the most learned in such subjects, and give new views to all of 
man's relation to the globe he inhabits." — Silliman's Journal. 

l ' To the reader we shall owe no apology, if we have said enough te 
excite his curiosity, and to persuade him to look to the book itself foi fur- 
ther instruction." — North American Review. 

" The grand idea of the work is happily expressed by the author, where 
lie calls it the geographical march of history. * * * The man of science 
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genius, have liberally contributed to the production of the work under 
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14 Geography is here presented under a new and attractive phase ; it is no 
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Physical Geography, are presented in a popular form, and with the clear- 
ness and vivacity so characteristic of French treatise? on science. Th» 
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JiTew York. 

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VALUABLE SCHOOL BOOKS. 



ELEMENTS OF MORAL SCIENCE. By Francis Waylakd, 
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u The work has been read by me attentively and thoroughly, and I think 
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to the purposes for which it is intended." • The Mercantile Journal. 



VALUABLE SCHOOL BOOKS. 



THE ELEMENTS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. By Francis 
Way land, D.D., President of Brown University. * Fifteenth 
Thousand. 12mo., cloth. Price SI. 25. 

" His object has been to -write a book, which any one who chooses may 
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course of discussion in the following pages, has, unavoidably, Ted him over 
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without fear, favor, or affection. He is conscious to himself of no bias towards 
any party whatever, and he thinks that he who will read the whole work, will 
be convinced that he has been influenced by none." — Extract from Pre/ace. 

POLITICAL ECON03IY, ABRIDGED, by the Author, and 
adapted to the use of Schools and Academies. Seventh 
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'•The original work of the a/uthor, on Political Economy, has already been 
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THOUGHTS on the present Collegiate System in the United 
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bearings." 

PALEY'S NATURAL THEOLOGY. Illustrated by forty plates, 
and Selections from the notes of Dr. Paxton, with additional 
Notes, original and selected, for this edition ; with a vocabi*- 
lary of Scientific Teruis. Edited by John Ware, 1LD. 12mo^, 
sheep. Price $1.25. 

" The work before us is one which deserves rather to be studied than 
merely read. Indeed, without diligent attention and study, neither the excel- 
lences of it can be fully discovered, nor its advantages realized. It is, there- 
fore, gratifying to find it introduced, as a text-book, into the colleges and 
literary institutions of our country. The edition before us is superior to any 
we ha'.'e seen, and, we believe, superior to any that has yet been published." 

Spirit of the Pilgrim* 

u Perhaps no one of our author's works gives greater satisfaction to all classes 
jv? readers, the young and the old, the ignorant and the enlightened. Indeed, 
we recollect no book in which the arguments for the existence and attributes 
of the Supreme Being to be drawn from his works, are exhibited in a majv*** 
more attractive and more convincing." — Christian Ex.atm.iwjr. 



VALUABLE SCHOOL BOOKS. 



BLAKE'S FIRST BOOK IN ASTRONONY. Designed for the 
Use of Common Schools. By J. L. Blake, D.D. Illustrated 
by Steel Plate Engravings. 8vo., cloth back. Price 50 cento. 

From E. Hinckley, Prof, of Matliematics in Maryland University. 

" I am much indebted to you for a copy of the First Book in Astronomy. 
It is a work of utility and merit, far superior to any other which I have seen, 
The author has selected his topics with great judgment, — arranged them in 
admirable order, — exhibited them in a style and manner at once tasteful and 
philosophical. Nothing seems wanting, — nothing redundant. It is truly a 
very beautiful and attractive book, calculated to afford both pleasure and 
profit to all who may enjoy the advantage of perusing it." 

From B. Field, Principal of the Hancock School, Boston. 

" I know of no other work on Astronomy so well calculated to interest 
and instruct young learners in this sublime science." 

From Isaac Foster, Instructor of Youth, Portland. 

u I have examined Blake's First Book in Astronomy, and am much pleased 
with it. A very happy selection of topics is presented in a manner which 
cannot fail to interest the learner, while the questions will assist him materi- 
ally in fixing in the memory what ought to be retained. It leaves the most 
intricate parts of the subject for those who are able to master them, and brings 
before the young pupil only what can be made intelligible and interesting 
to him." 

"We are free to say, that it is, in our opinion, decidedly the best work 
we have any knowledge of, on the sublime and interesting subject of Astron- 
omy. The engravings are executed in a superior style, and the mechanical 
appearance of the book is extremely prepossessing.— Evening Gazette, Boston. 

"We do not hesitate to recommend it to the notice of the superintending 
committees, teachers, and pupils of our public schools. The definitions in the 
first part of the volume are given in brief and clear language, adapted to the 
imderstanding of beginners."— State Herald, AT. H. 

BLAKE'S NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. Being Conversations on 
Philosophy, with the addition of Explanatory Notes, Questions 
for Examination, and a Dictionary of Philosophical Terms- 
With twenty-eight steel Engravings. By J. L. Blake, D.D. 
12mo., sheep. Price 67 cents. 

***• Perhaps no work has contributed so much as this to excite a fondness 
for the study of Natural Philosophy in youthful minds. The familial 
comparisons, with which it abounds, awaken interest, and rivet the attention 
of the pupil. 

From Rev. J. Adams, President of Charleston College, S. C. 

"I have been highly gratified with the perusal of your edition of Cou* 
versatioii3 on Natural Philosophy. The Questions, Notes, and Explanations 
of Terms, are valuable additions to the work, and make this edition superior 
to any other with which I am acquainted. I shall recommend it wherever 
I have an opportunity." 

" We avail ourselves of the opportunity furnished us by the publication of a 
new edition of this deservedly popular work, to recommend it, not only to 
those instructors who may not already have adopted it, but also generally to 
all readers who are desirous of obtaining information on the subjects on which 
it treats. By Questions arranged at the bottom of the pages, in which the 
collateral facts are arranged, he directs the attention of the learner to the prin- 
cipal topics. Mr. Blake has also added many Notes, which illustrate jth« 
passages to which they are appended, and the Dictionary of Philosophk&S 
Terms is a useful addition." — U. & Literary Gazette. 



VALUABLE SCHOOL BOOKS. 



YOUNG LADIES' CLASS BOOK. A Selection of Lessons for 
Reading in Prose and Verse. By E. Bailey, A.M., late 
Principal of the Young Ladies' High School, Boston. Stereo- 
typed Edition. 12mo., sheep. Price 83K cents. 

From the Principals of the Public Schools for Females, Boston. 

" Gentlemen: — We have examined the Young Ladies' Class Book with 
interest and pleasure ; with interest, because we have felt the want of a Read- 
ing Book expressly designed for the use of females ; and with pleasure, be- 
cause we have found it well adapted to supply the deficiency. The high-toned 
morality, the freedom from sectarianism, the taste, richness, and adaptation 
of the selections, added to the neatness of its external appearance, must com- 
mend it to all ; while the practical teacher will not fail to observe that diversity 
of style, together with those peculiar points, the want of which, few, who have 
not felt, know how to supply. 

Respectfully yours, Barnum Field, Abraham Andrews, 

R. G. Parker, Charles Fox." 

From the Principal of the Mount Vernon School, Boston. 

" I have examined with much interest the Young Ladies' Class Book, by 
Sir. Bailey, and have been very highly pleased with its contents. It is my 
intention to introduce it into my own school ; as I regard it as not only remark- 
ably well fitted to answer its particular object as a book of exercises in the art 
of elocution, but as calculated to have an influence upon the character and 
conduct, which will be in every respect favorable." — Jacob Abbott. 

"We were never so struck with the importance of having reading booTos 
for female schools, adapted particularly to that express purpose, as while 
looking over the pages of this selection. The eminent success of the com- 
piler in teaching this branch, to which we can personally bear testimony, ia 
sufficient evidence of the character of the work." — Annals of Education. 

ROMAN ANTIOUITIES AND ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY. By 

C. K. Dillaway, A.M., late Principal in the Boston Latin 
School. With Engravings. Eighth Ed., improved. 12mo., 
naif mor. Price 67 cts. 

From E. Bailey, Principal of the Young Ladies' High Scliool, Boston* 

"Having used Dillaivafs Roman Antiquities and Ancient Mythology in 
my school for several years, I commend it to teachers with great confidence, 
as a valuable text-book on those interesting branches of education. 

E. Bailey." 

" The want of a cheap volume, embracing a succinct account of ancient 
customs, together with a view of classical mythology, has long been felt. 
Mr. Dillaway's book seems to have been prepared with special reference to 
the wants of those who are just entering upon a classical career; and we 
de-src it but a simple act of justice to say, that it supplies the want, which, 
as -5T3 have before said, has long been felt. A peculiar merit of this compila- 
tion, and one which will gain it admission into our highly respectable female 
seminaries, is the total absence of all allusion, even the most remote, to the 
disgusting obscenities of ancient mythology; while, at the same time, nothing 
is omitted which a pure mind would feel interested to know. We recom- 
mend the book as a valuable addition to the treatises in our schools and 
academies." — Education Reporter, Boston. 

" It was reserved for one of our Boston instructors to apply the condensing 
apparatus to this mass of crudities, and so to modernize the antiquities of the 
old Romans, as to make a befitting abridgment for schools of the first order. 
Mr. Dillaway has presented such a compilation as must be interesting to lads, 
and become popular as a text-book. Historical facts are stated with great sim- 
plicity and clearness ; the most important points are seized upon, while trifling 
peculiarities are passed unnoticed."— Am. Traveller. 



VALUABLE SCHOOL BOOKS. 



COMPARATIVE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. The Earth 
and Man. Lectures on Comparative Physical Geography, in 
its relation to the History of Mankind. By Arnold Guyot. 
Translated from the French by Prof. C. C. Felton. With 
Illustrations. Second Thousand, 12mo. Price, $1 25. 

" Geography is here presented under a new and attractive phase. It 
is no longer a dry description of the features of the earth's surface. 
The influence of soil, scenery, and climate upon character, has not yet 
received the consideration due to it from historians and philosophers. "in 
the volume before us, the profound investigations of Humboldt, Ritter, 
and others, in Physical Geography, are presented in a popular form, and 
with the clearness and vivacity so characteristic of French treatises on 
science. The work should be introduced into our higher schools. " — 
The Independent, JV. Y. 

" These lectures form one of the most valuable contributions to geo- 
graphical science that has ever been published in this country. They 
invest the study of geography with an interest which will, we doubt not, 
surprise and delight many. They will open an entire new world to mosi 
readers, and will be found an invaluable aid to the teacher and student 
of geography." — Evening Traveller. 

THE CICERONIAN ; Or the Prussian Method of Teaching the 
Latin Language. Adapted to the use of American Schools, by 
B. Sears. 18'mo., half mor. Price 50 cents. 

From the Professors of Harvard University. 

" We beg leave to observe, that we consider this book a very valuable addi- 
tion to our stock of elementary works. Its great merit is, that it renders the 
elementary instruction in Latin less mechanical, by constantly calling the 
reasoning power of the pupil into action, and gives', from the'beginning, a 
deeper insight into the very nature, principles, and laws not only of the Latin 
language, but of language in general. If the book required any other 
recommendation besides that of being the work of so thorough and experi- 
enced a scholar as Dr. Sears, it would be this, that the system illustrated in it 
is not a mere theory, but has been practically tested by many able instructors 
in Germany. We wish that the same trial may be made here. 

Very respectfully yours, Charles Beck, 

C. C. Feltox." 

From S. II. Taylor, Principal of Phillips'' Academy, Andover. 

"I have examined, with much pleasure and profit, the * Ciceronian,' pre- 
pared bv Dr. Sears. It i3 admirably adapted to make thorough teachers and 
thorough pupils. It requires of the teacher a precise and intimate acquaint- 
ance with the minutia? of the Latin tongue, and necessarily induces in the 
pupil habits of close thought and nice discrimination. The plan of the work 
is excellent. S. H. Taylor." 

MEMORIA TECHNICA I Or, the Art of Abbreviating those 
Studies which give the greatest Labor to the Memory ; includ- 
ing Numbers, Historical Dates, Geography, Astronomy, Gravi- 
ties, &c. By L. D. Johnson. Third Edition, revised and 
improved. Octavo, cloth back. Price 50 cents. 

"This system of Mnemotechny, differing considerably from the one intro* 
duced by Prof. G-ouraud, is designed to furnish all the rules for aiding the 
inemor}^ without lessening mental culture, which can be made available dur- 
ing a course of elementary study. The illustrations may be easily compre- 
hended by any person of ordinary mental capacity ; and the application of 
the principles upon which the system is based, must necessarily furnish an 
agreeable and useful exercise to the mind." - New York Teachers' Advocate* 



SEVENTH TIT0U9AND. 

WAYLAND'S POLITICAL ECONOMY, 

FOE COMMON SCHOOLS. 

n^=* The success which has attended the abridgment of " The 

Elements of Moral Science" has induced the author to prepare 

an abridgment of this work. In this case, as in the other, Hie 

work has been wholly re-written, and adapted to Hie attainments 

of youth. 11 

From the Boston Recorder. 

" The original work of the author, on Political Economy, has 
already been noticed in our pages -, and the present abridgment stands 
in no need of a recommendation from us. We may be permitted, how- 
ever, to say that both the rising and risen generations are deeply 
indebted to Dr. Wayland, for the skill and power he has put forth" to 
bring a highly important subject distinctly before them, within such 
narrow limits. Though ' abridged for the use of academies,- it deserves 
to be introduced into every private family, and to be studied by every 
man who has an interest in the wealth and prosperity of his country. 
It is a subject little understood, even practically, by thousands, and 
still less understood theoretically. It is to be hoped, this will form a 
class-book, and be faithfully studied in our academies ; and that it will 
find its way into every family library ; not there to be shut up unread, 
but to afford rich material for thought and discussion in the family 
circle. It is fitted to enlarge the mind, to purify the judgment, to cor- 
rect erroneous popular impressions, and assist every man in forming 
opinions of public measures, which will abide the test of time and 
experience." 

From the New York Transcript. 

" An abridgment of this clear, common-sense work, designed for the 
use of academies, is just published. We rejoice to see such treatises 
spreading among the people ; and we urge all who would be intelligent 
freemen, to read them." 

From the New York Observer. 
"We can say, with safety, that the topics are well selected and 
arranged ; that the author's name is a guarantee for more than usual 
excellence. We wish it an extensive circulation." 
From the Daily Advocate. 
11 It is well adapted to high schools, and embraces the soundest 
system of republican political economy of any treatise extant." 

From James Shannon, President of the College of Louisiana. 
" I have rarely met with a work of the kind with which I was more 
pleased, than with Dr. Wayland's Elements of Political Economy, 
Abridged. The highest commendation I can give his larger work, and 
also his Elements of Moral Science is, that I have introduced them 
into my classes, as by far the best text-books, on those branches, that I 
have ever seen. The latter work, with the exception of a few chapters, 
I regard almost perfect." 

',., a 



r 



PROGRESSIVE PENMANSHIP, 

PLAIN AND ORNAMENTAL, 

FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS ; 

BY N. D. GOULD, 

Author of l Beauties of Writing, 1 ' Writing Master's Assistant. 1 

Gottld and Lincoln are happy to present to the public 
the above work from a well-known penman, whose great experi- 
ence in execution and instruction has so eminently qualified him 
to devise a system of Penmanship adapted both to the wants of 
Schools, and for the exercise of the experienced Penman. 

The copies are arranged in progressive series, and are likewise 
so diversified by the introduction of variations in style, and 
especially by the interspersion of a great number of Capital let- 
ters, as to command the constant attention and exercise the 
ingenuity of the learner, thus removing some of the most serious 
obstacles to the success of the teacher. They are divided into 
five series, intended for the like number of books, and are so ar- 
ranged that a copy always comes over the top of the page on 
which it is to be written. 

There are ninety-six copies, presenting, in the first place, a 
regular inductive system of Penmanship for ordinary business 
purposes, followed by examples of every variety of Ornamental 
Writing. 

The Copy Books are of two sizes, medium and letter sheet, — 
thus accommodating the wants of those who desire larger sized 
books than are in general use. The letter sheet size is divided 
into four consecutive books ; the smaller sizes into five. 

The admirable and natural plan of the work, the beauty of its 
execution, the superior quality of the paper, and its cheapness, 
must commend it to the favorable regard of every one. 

Teachers, School Committees, and others interested, are 
invited to examine this series, which is confidently presented 
as superior, in plan and execution, to any book of the kind 
heretofore published. 



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